Dell XPS 420 Upgrade 8800 GT and PSU along with Ram

1. Upgrade the Graphics Card from NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT to something better? Yes.  You just have to decide if you want to stay with Nvidia or move to ATI.  I would base my choice on your current processor so you don't have a bottleneck and your monitor's resolution.   2. Whats the max i can upgrade my ram? 4GB 3. Would i need to upgrade my PSU?

If you have the 375W unit, you can look at the Nvidia GTS 250 or the ATI HD 5770.  If you have the 425W unit, you may be able to run the new Nvidia GTX 460.  The 768MB version probably only uses around 30 more watts under load over your 8800 GT.  You can upgrade the power supply if you want as it takes a standard ATX type unit.  

Thank you for your reply.

My processor is Q6600 2.4Ghz Quad Core. 3GB Ram Nvidia 8800 GT Video Card. PSU 375W.

I've taken your advice on board and will go for the ATi Radeon HD 5770 but will i need a more powerful PSU or is the one im using sufficient?

Also would it be worth installing Windows 7 64bit?

Thanks for your time.

I have seen others that have used the HD 5770 on the 375W unit.  The Q6600 is a nice CPU so you will have no issues there.  It is up to you whether you want to spend the money on Windows 7.  With a 64-bit system, the XPS 420 can use up to 8GB of memory.   I upgraded my Vista 32-Bit to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit only because I happened to get it free with the same Q6600 CPU as you have.   I am currently just using 4GB of memory though.  Memory is expensive right now.  I bought some 1 1/2  years ago and I wished I would have bought more since today it is 3 times as much for DDR2.  It was $18 then and now it's over $50 for the same 2GB amount.    If you get Windows 7, I would do a clean install which is what I did versus doing the upgrade and you can use the less expensive upgrade version to do a clean install.   It just works out better as long as you save everything and don't mind reinstalling your software and drivers.  I do like Windows 7 better than Vista, but I am not one of those that had problems with Vista.

Awesome. I'm going to the PC Fair on Sunday and will be purchasing these additions. I will install this all and give it a test.

Be sure to check the post as i will reply with some feedback on how it all went.

But once again thank you so much for your time and effort.

how did you get on ?