x51 upgrade

The first thing i would do is upgrade to 16GB of RAM if the Motherboard supports it. The 2nd thing to do is verify with Nvidia that you have the latest drivers and with Dell that you have the latest drivers. That should make things much smoother. 8GB of RAM is the lowest I'd go and if you game and have other applications running I have seen 8 GB being used at 100%. If you sign into https://support.dell.com and put your service tag in you should also have the ability to select a tab for accessories and it should bring up a list of compatible RAM. Any more than 16GB of RAM and you might be overkilling it. I have 32GB and never hit above 12GB at 1080p 60hz on my R4.

first...  depends which PSU adapter you have.. the 240 or 330watt..  .. 330 gonna be required for what im about to add haha

second.. 16 gigs isn't l i run 8 and windows 10  and run alot of crap and never an issue, but for the cost of ram its not to bad idea ..

third...  video card .. 970gtx 1060gtx 1070gtx (1070 requires slight case tweak but i had one in my X51 R3 on the 330 watt no issues)

cpu..  burn it  get a 4770 or i believe the 4790 ..  powerhouse..

SOLID STATE DRIVE!!!!!!!! ...lol

total cost..  you just rebuilt your system  haha

is RAM universal or do I buy a specific one

online retailer's bestbuy, local computer store's .. just need to make sure its within size requirements for the system... which the 1060 should be but  also make sure you got the better 330 watt power brick  to take full advantage 

as for ram it needs to be similar to whats in your system, best to replace in pairs, and scrap the original that's in the system,  more then likely its ddr3L 1600 .. but you can go to crucial.com or Kingston.com to see what compatible with your system 

how do I figure out which one I have

look  on it..  will have a model number or a D/PN ...  can either post or google those numbers 

Its the 240 w do i just buy a 330 on amazon?