Good points all round - I've played the game at a steady 45 ping, and the 80 or so ping I have now, 75 during late night, 80 the rest of the time - there is a difference for sure, especially between say 50 and 200 IMO, but you can adjust for it so long as it is a constant/steady ping, which IMO is more important than a "low number", but the low number does help. It sure does in FPS games, big time. One thing to be noted - HT has said many times ping has NO bearing on the collision model, and this is 100% verifiable in game as well IMO.
Save makes good points too - accuracy in shooting is the bottom line in killing IMO - all the SA, ACM, etc, to line up a shot, is worthless if you can't MAKE that shot. A good, as in really good high quality stick, and having it set up with curves which are comfortable for your style is essential. A good sight is too, although I just use the death dot for 99 percent of my shooting in game. SA is important for staying alive IMO more than getting kills, but it works both ways, you can't get kills if you're dead, so I guess it's of equal import in some respects. Being very fast with your thumb hat, or using TiR - I use a combination of both - and constantly, as in every few seconds even when engaged and close to a shooting solution, checking behind you and around you defines good SA IMO.
One other thing which helps me is arm position. Many have their sticks mounted to HOTAS chairs/desks and whatnot, but I find having my elbow/forearm planted on my gaming desk surface really helps me with steady aiming and shots, as opposed to my elbow and arm floating in the air. YMMV, this is very subjective, but most who have tried it out in my experience stick with it, I have my arm contacting my desk from about 2 inches forward of my elbow most of the time.
I think any decent PC with a good vid card and CPU will work well in this game, and that the stick is of more importance (rudders too) in terms of actually getting kills hardware wise.
One last thing - 144hz monitors present a much clearer and..."faster" for lack of a better descriptive word gaming experience, in all games, not just Ah, but I certainly notice the effect here. TA or IPS, I've tried both, and having 144hz over 60hz/typical rates does make a difference - how it directly translates to "getting kills" is hard to qualify, but ask anyone here who has moved to a 144hz dedicated gaming LCD, and in every case they say it has made a large improvement in their overall experience. Monitor = PC too, so I would include this as well.
