New Laptop - initial performance setup?

I'm getting a Dell e1505 soon, with 1.83 Duo core, 1 gig ram, x1400 with 256 hyper-threaded MB, 7200 rpm 100 GB HD. Anyway, I've been browsing these forums and picking up tips (thanks everyone). So I plan on running Oblivion (on low/med settings) and was wondering what I should do to my laptop when I get it to maximize my speed.

I plan on overclocking the GPU a little and installing Omega drivers. Anything else I should do? Clean up some of the pre-installed Dell garbage? Defrag or something? All tips very much appreciated.

 

My personal preference:
1 Reformat HD
2 Reinstall OS and drivers
3 Install software (keep Restore points in case you mess up)

 

A good format is always helpful when you first get the notebook; clear out all the preinstalled software, etc. Definitely agree on the driver update part as well.

You've pretty much covered what you need to do. Google for tweak guides for Oblivion so you can balance your settings.

Chaz

 

Thanks guys. I'm leery of formatting because I'm always afraid I'm going to screw something up that's not retrievable, but I guess I'll try it. Any tips on formatting? (Or is it pretty idiot-proof?) Also, when you make restore points are you talking about System Restore? And how do I make sure I have all my proper drivers so I don't miss any when I re-install, or will I not need that many?

 

Well, when I reformatted my Dell, I was going from nearly 4 year old crippled Win2k system to a brand new Win XP Pro SP2, and everything worked fine for me. Do be safe, I made a backup of the "Dell" Folder before I reformatted in case I would need any of the drivers. But after I reformatted, the only thing I need drivers for was the graphics card, so I just popped in the CD-R I hade made and pointed Windows to the Dell folder to get the driver, and everything worked fine. I still don't have a driver installed for my modem, but hey, who cares? I don't use 56k.

With a brand new computer, you shouldn't have any issues with the reformat (not on a Dell at least). And even if you decide not to back up your drivers, most of them could be resolved through the Dell website or Windows Update if absolutely necessary. My Dell is pretty old, and I haven't used a new one in a while, so I don't know if they still have the Dell folder on the C or not. But either way, you should be fine.