How essential is OCing to game with this thing

I'm a computer layman/ novice who just ordered a Whitebook from Xotic PC as a cheaper alternative to buying from Alienware. I have no idea how to overclock or mod up my computer once I get it, which is making me a bit nervous about my purchase cause it seems that just about everyone here has been doing it to get the graphics/ gaming results they have.

So my question is, what kind of gaming capabilities will I be able to expect from my 'stock' rig (how well can I expect to play Crysis, Fallout 3, and FarCry2)? What sort of simple mods or downloads can install to squeeze that extra oomph from it? And how complicated is oc'ing for a 'noob'?

Here's what will be arriving at my door next week:

OCZ FORCE EXTREME 840 (Built on Flextronics / Arima W840 DI / OCZNBIM17A / W840DI )
- Operating System: -Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit
- Fingerprint Reader: Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio
- Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Wireless Network: Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 530
- Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth® EDR
- Raid: Raid 1-Mirror (Copies primary ha
- Secondary Hard Drive: - 320GB 7200RPM
- Primary Hard Drive: - 320GB 7200RPM
- Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Reader / Super Multi DVD
- Ram: 4,096MB (2 SODIMMS) DDR3 1066M
- Video Card: CROSSFIRE ATI HD3870 (2) 512MB
-Processor: Intel® QX9300 45nm "Montevina"w 12mb L2 die cache 1066 mhz
- Coolant accessory: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Display: 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" 1920X1200

Thanks in advance!

 

LOL you will have no problems with games. Crossfire and FC 2 might be iffy, you'll need the "hotfix" and hopefully it works out for ya.

 

There's no such thing as OC'ing for a noob.

Never try it if it is something that you aren't familiar with, or something that you don't plan on getting familiar with as you can really damage stuff.

As far as the results, people are OCing to get that last 10-20% out of the system but it is by no means necessary, especially for games.

like Thund3rball said, you will have no problems with 99% of the games out there.

The only struggle would be to MAX out Crysis and FC2.

Drop the resolution slightly or the detail and you are above 40 fps or so no problem so its not a matter of playability really.

At this level of performance, it is more like, do you want smooth, or smoother.

 

As the two posters above me have stated, overclocking isn't necessary at all to play games on this rig. However, simple software mods you can try are things like installing modified drivers (I know there's a few circulating around) on your computer.

If you do decide that you're interested and comfortable in overclocking, E-wrecked's thread is here. But I must stress that you shouldn't do this unless you are comfortable doing so. It's not something to do just because all the other cool kids are

 

I have a question what would be the best OC for the P8400 2.26 can it go safe to 2.5-2.6?

 

That's a lot of money to drop if you don't even understand concepts like driver updates and overclocking.

I suggest you do some research.

 

How much did that rig cost?

 

Well, like I said, I bought this from Xotic as a cheap alternative to buying from Alienware, who were the only gaming pc firm I knew about before researching other retailers, and finally arriving at Xotic.

I just took AW's suggested 'for dummies' top of the line M17 config and copied and pasted it to Xotic's template... so I figure the config should be about as idiot proof.

As for OC'ing- I got a bit curious about how well it would perform out of the box without doing any complicated tweaking as everyone around here seems to be doing.

Thankfully, now that I have some benchmarks to look at in the Alienware forum and your guys' reassurances, I think I'll be able to get the kind of performance I want/expect from this thing without harming the computer or myself.

 

$3871.01

That's including sales tax, overnight UPS shipping, and Xotic's standard 3 years parts and labor warranty (with complementary overnight shipping).

When I shopped for a similar M17 configuration+service at Alienware, I was quoted about $5,000.

Other small boutiques offered around $3,700 to $4,600 if I recall correctly.

 

Depends on the game: SupCom, World at Conflict, and GTA IV will see significant improvements in performance after a CPU OC. The GPU seems to be more strained in terms of OC capacity, but it might be due to drivers and cooling. Nonetheless, some games would show some improvement when these GPUs are OC'd, while others won't.

 

So would there be any great difference in fps for gaming betwen the x9100 unclocked and the t9600? With the X9100 overclocked @3.33ghz what kind of fps would it yield over the T9800(2.8ghz)? I've seen the benchmarks but I'm wondering about actual gaming performance. I see that many here have the X9100 cpu's...