Something like this is the way to go...I think that's how FNF (friday night fights) was run back in the TFC days. Saturdays was SNSF (saturday night soldier fights) which was 5v5 or 6v6 all soldiers...I forget. SNSF was more fun IMO as it was a total change up from typical matches :)

They might have had brackets towards the end but it seemed like it was all organized on the fly in IRC using the kind of 'king of the court' method. You formed your team, made up a name and waited to be called up. Good teams could run the table the whole night if they started early. There might have been 2 servers hosting games simultaneously and at the end the kings of either server met up for a final...can't remember as that was like 10 years ago lol.

Get the heck out of this thread, you're going to spoil everything for yourself! :)

If you're primarily going to be playing tf2 you really don't need that powerful of video card.

If using Setsul's list it would be better to opt for an unlocked processor (i.e. 3570k or 4670k) and trade down a little on the video card. It's a lot more typical to upgrade your video card over the life of your system multiple times, while you stick with one processor (due to the nature of improvements on the GPU side). TF2 is heavily CPU limited.

I would also opt for a bit higher watt powersupply but drop the mechanical keyboard. I really wouldn't prioritize a mechanical keyboard if watching your $$$. I own one and it's a luxury item that you can hold off on...the cost/benefit is not that great. (the 144hz monitor on the other hand is totally worth it :) )

Biggest mistakes I see when people build systems is spending exorbitant amounts on cases and powersupplies. You can get excellent cases for near the lowest price points from coolermaster/antec etc, all of them are miles better than what was available 10 years ago. I guess I'm old now but I'm always amazed at how nice the cases have gotten when I do builds for family with 40-70 dollar cases.

99% of builds won't need a powersupply more than 80 dollars...maybe 90 canadian....thankfully none of the choices here are over that.

Is there any active server running this? I can't seem to find any from the server browser

Is it possible you have mouse acceleration on and don't know it? I seem to recall mac OS had some really bad mouse acceleration for gamers- so you may want to look at how to make sure that's disabled in tf2 first...I'm not sure if m_rawinput 1 is sufficient or if it's handled differently on mac's.

Once you sort out the mouse acceleration thing and you're getting true 1:1 input with your mouse movement you'll basically want to practice in situations where you can get as many repetitions as possible in a short period of time. I'd recommend something like tr_walkway where you can get lots of reps in a short period of time to start building muscle memory.

First things first make sure you don't have mouse accell on!

i7 is a bit more future proof. Future games are likely to start effectively utilizing more than 4 threads; this will be a big bonus to i7 users in the long run.

what's your budget?

It's pretty disappointing to see an item being banned when tactics are evolving and in their absolute infancy regarding it. If you look at any competitive game at any point in it's lifetime there are tactics that are considered overpowered or the most effective one year that are no longer even used in a different year because something better was found- and this is without any changes to the items. Rather than embracing this process which hasn't even really begun, ESEA is nipping it in the bud because of a momentary negative experience. IMO that's robbing the game of some life.

Change is painful, but at some point you need a willingness to see where things evolve, even if there are bumps in the road. Otherwise you can just retreat to what you are comfortable with like every other dying competitive community.

btw if a wire did break on your g400 or you are having any issues Logitech pretty much will send you a free replacement and most times you don't even need to send the problem child back. They have some of the best support in the business, don't hesitate to contact them!

I've bought 3 mice from them over the year. One of them got an issue with the wire after a year or so but they were quick to send me a brand new one.

I would opt for the i7-4770k if you are wanting to stream- the 4 extra threads over the 4670k should also help as future games increasingly take advantage of them. (upcoming consoles are using 8c cpu so expect AAA titles on PC to start taking greater advantage of 4+ threads.)

Has anyone ran buff banner against this yet? Seems like it could be well suited vs qf and could possibly counter some of the heavy strats.

for the bombing issue- it sounds like that could be improved if a cooldown was added for the jump leashing when the medic takes damage? That way if you land a hit the medic isn't being jumped out for X seconds.

As above if your mouse is at 1000hz polling change it to 500hz. Try switching your keyboard from USB to ps/2...the ps/2 port is actually better for keyboards and supports N-key rollover. I had some freezing issues while playing with my system a long while back (would get hitching and other issues) that really seemed to clear up once I moved my KB over to the ps/2 port from USB. It was almost as if the USB was oversaturated (I have an old ass system) and it was creating conflicts. Btw I also have a quickfire rapid...use the ps/2 port, it's better and who knows maybe it could help.

Really? awesome! I haven't checked the latest in the last few months, previously there were just crude hacks that required hot swapping from an nvidia card...I can finally use it then.

hey blink- if I was in your shoes I would future proof more with the i7-4770k. Games are increasingly going to take advantage of more threads, IMO the 4 extra threads are worth the premium right now, as long as you are not extremely budget constrained.

Your new build absolutely should include an SSD that has enough space to host your OS + at least a few apps and your core steam games. It's kind of silly for any modern build to not include a SSD, it makes a HUGGGEEE difference. It's easily the biggest upgrade you can do for day to day performance.

If your 120hz monitor is 'lightboost' capable you really should go the nvidia route as well with a new card. AMD graphics cards cannot do lightboost. http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost/