DaiSan

See this is why I dislike the Perk/Unlock ethos that COD/BF have. What's the point in unlocking better weapons if people then moan about them and they then 'Nerf' everything until the only difference is cosmetic. Just let people have everything from the start (ala ArmA etc) and then people can choose their favourite weapons and specialise if they want. A game should stand on it's merits not try and keep peoples attention by forcing Ranks/Perks/Unlocks.

A really nice and easy Beef Bourguignon I cooked the other day. Every mouthful is a delight. Ingredients: 3 tsp goose fat 600g beef shin, cut into large chunks (Skirt is good too). You want a cut of beef with fat IN the meat grain as this gives that melt in the mouth texture rather than a chewy one. 100g smoked streaky bacon, sliced 350g shallots or pearl onions, peeled 250g chestnut mushrooms (about 20) 2 garlic clove, sliced 1 bouquet garni 1 tbsp tomato purée 750ml bottle red wine, Burgundy is good 1: Heat a large casserole pan and add 1 tbsp goose fat. Season the beef and fry until golden brown, about 3-5 mins, then turn over and fry the other side until the meat is browned all over, adding more fat if necessary. Do this in 2-3 batches, transferring the meat to a colander set over a bowl when browned. 2: In the same pan, fry the bacon, shallots or pearl onions, mushrooms, garlic and bouquet garni until lightly browned. Mix in the tomato purée and cook for a few mins, stirring into the mixture. This enriches the bourguignon and makes a great base for the stew. Then return the beef and any drained juices to the pan and stir through. 3: Pour over the wine and about 100ml water so the meat bobs up from the liquid, but isn't completely covered. Bring to the boil and use a spoon to scrape the caramelised cooking juices from the bottom of the pan - this will give the stew more flavour. 4: Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. then cook for 3 hrs. If the sauce looks watery, remove the beef and veg with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Cook the sauce over a high heat for a few mins until the sauce has thickened a little, then return the beef and vegetables to the pan. Just in case... To make a bouquet garni, use a piece of string to tie together a couple of rosemary, thyme and parsley sprigs and a handful of bay leaves. Remove from the pan at the end of cooking and discard. I server with plain boiled new potatoes rolled in butter and mixed herbs and some Salt & Pepper bread but the choice is yours, Tiger Bread, Celeriac Mash, Rice it's all good.

Looks like another person trying to pad his 'Rage Quit' stats. Your gonna have to go some to beat mine mate

Stunning... Simply stunning.

Sounds real nice, I would give this a go

Tempting fate I know but I seem to have cured my constant crashing problem. Disabling both Windows Defender and Desktop Search seems to have cured the problem.

Hey, ya never know, I may actually be able to play without crashing now. If so, beware, I'm owed lots of dog tags and upgrades ;-)

Sounds more like a board failure than an actual platter problem to me. People seem to forget there is a circuit board on a HD that can fail too. It is also VERY easy to replace the board if you are confident the actual platters themselves are ok. Just look up the drive on EBay or google and make sure the board is the same and you can get a damaged HD (platters/read errors) for next to nothing.

Many Happy Returns bud.

Thought it was quiet around here. Thanks for passing on the info Medic, glad he and his are safe and sound. Pass on my best wishes and hope he's back up online ASAP.

Aaaawwww I feel for you all, a little flickering must be very annoying. Do I sound bitter? Ya bastages ;-)

Gunny, please post links to things like that, you any idea how long it takes to scroll down on an iPhone ;-)

As promised

Many Happy Returns bud, pictures to follow when I get home.

I run a Q6600 too Rocky. What you clocked at? Mine runs quite happily at 3ghz with only minor bios tweaks. If you want to OC it catch me on TS.

Purely from a performance viewpoint you can't get much better than a GTX 560ti OC if you want bang for bucks but I'm hesitant to recommend them for BF3 as a lot of people (me included) are having issues with them and CTD's.

T, I had almost reached the same point (ask anyone on TS). I have a Nvidia 560ti and have a constant problem since the beta (funnily enough the alpha was fine). Randomly I will get an audio stutter and then booted back to desktop with no error. BF3 is still running on the taskbar but I cant get back into the game and have to bring task manager up and end bf3.exe This happens every time I run the game to the extent that I unlocked on Tuesday (using a US VPN) and still only reached Rank 2 (I cant count how many times I unlocked items or ranked up only to lose everything before the round ended) by Friday. I don't work Fridays so I spent the entire day trying to fix the issue. This is what I have done so far. 4 different versions of Nvidia drivers (all including a full safe mode drive sweeper removal of the previous version in between installs). Every possible combination of in-game Video and Audio settings. Full repairs then reinstalls of BF3. All exe's (bf3, Origin etc) are running as admin. I have also tried various compatibility modes and cpu affinities. Tried Battlecom in Firefox, IE and Chrome. I even dug out my old X-Fi Extreme Gamer soundcard (which caused me BSOD's a while ago) and reinstalled that incase it was an onboard sound issue. And loads of stuff off the forums that I have probably forgotten I tried. Nothing cures the crashes. This doesn't happen in any other games ( I recently had a corrupt video issue when I installed Rage but this is a known issue and being patched) and all my temperatures (GPU and CPU) are fine. I was finally able to play 3 rounds with no crashes last night by playing in Windowed mode (then I had to go eat) so will play again tonight to see if this works until they patch the damn thing. Give it a try mate, takes a few mins to get used to having the top border but you soon forget about it.

So, are we going to give the UK server a 'Tactical' setup and test tonight? (29/10)

Good job Vii, had a good laugh on the US server last night with Skaz & co. Great job on repairs Haj. Still having the random audio loop then bf3.exe lockups. Seems quite a common problem according to the forums, damned annoying losing all the points and unlocks.

Available here: 32bit 64bit

My thoughts not only go out to his family and friends but also to Rossi and Edwards who were involved in the crash. This is a great loss to the sport as he always made a race worth watching. R.I.P bro.

Many Happy Returns mate. We may be getting older but we always live in

Question: How do you tell the difference between a British Police Officer, an Australian Police Officer and an American Police Officer? Answer: First - Lets pose the following question: You're on duty by yourself walking on a deserted street late at night. Suddenly, an armed man with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and lunges at you.You are carrying a Glock .40, and you are an expert shot, however you have only a split second to react before he reaches you. What do you do? BRITISH POLICE OFFICER: Firstly the officer must consider the man's Human Rights. 1) Does the man look poor or oppressed? 2) Is he newly arrived in this country and does not yet understand the law? 3) Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack? 4) Am I dressed provocatively? 5) Could I run away? 6) Could I possibly swing my gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? 7) Should I try and negotiate with him to discuss his wrong doings? 8) Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it? 9) Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society? 10) Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me? 11) If I were to grab his knees and hold on, would he still want to stab and kill me? 12) If I raise my gun and he turns and runs away, do I get blamed if he falls over, knocks his head and kills himself? . 13) If I shoot and wound him, and lose the subsequent court case, does he have the opportunity to sue me, cost me my job, my credibility and the loss of my family home? AUSTRALIAN POLICE OFFICER: BANG! AMERICAN POLICE OFFICER: BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! 'click'.... (Sergeant arrives at scene later and remarks: 'Nice grouping!)

Welcome to the clan bro Some things are just better on two wheels... Including carwashes