Sapphire 11202-10-20G AMD Radeon HD 7750

The absolute Best card is the Sapphire 11202-10-20G Low Profile 7750.  

The 7750 Low Profile is fine for all Models due to it using1 Slot and not needing extra power (75W Max)

If you only have 2 Gigs I would upgrade to no more than 4 gigs Ram.

Recommended Upgrade

www.microcenter.com/.../11202-10-20G_AMD_Radeon_HD_7750_1024MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card

How to determine if my system's instability is related to the power ...

probably should have included that i have 4GB RAM

its a processor im looking for not a graphics card i got a new graphics card 3 months ago but thanks for that cause im helping my friend to find options for a new graphics card

There is very little in the way of Processor Upgrade that would make much difference.

You should not be fooled by the Mhz Myth. The megahertz myth, or less commonly the gigahertz myth, refers to the misconception of only using clock rate (for example measured in megahertz or gigahertz) to compare the performance of different microprocessors. While clock rates are a valid way of comparing
the performance of different speeds of the same model and type of processor, other factors such as pipeline depth and instruction sets can greatly affect the performance when considering different processors. A QX9650, 3.0G, 12MB, 1333FSB, C1 would be slightly faster due to higher FSB and larger cache.  The cost of this part is not worth the 13% increase.

MP626 Kentsfield Quad Core Kit, Q6600, 2.40G, 8MB, 1066FSB, G0

MP627 Kentsfield Quad Core Kit, Q6700, 2.66G, 8MB, 1066FSB, G0

UP673 Kentsfield Quad Core Kit, QX6700, 2.66G, 8MB, 1066FSB, B3

RX656 Kentsfield Quad Core Kit, QX6800, 2.93G, 8MB, 1066FSB, G0

PW016 Kentsfield Quad Core Kit, QX6850, 3.00G, 8MB, 1333FSB, G0

C863D Yorkfield Quad Core Kit, QX9300, 2.5G, 6MB, 1333FSB, M1

C864D Yorkfield Quad Core Kit, Q9450, 2.66G, 12MB, 1333FSB, C1

C865D Yorkfield Quad Core Kit, Q9550, 2.83G, 12MB, 1333FSB, C1

C299C Yorkfield Quad Core Kit, QX9650, 3.0G, 12MB, 1333FSB, C0

H786G Yorkfield Quad Core kit, QX9650, 3.0G, 12MB, 1333FSB, C1

Hi g456c,

Dell has tested following processors on this system:

• Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX6850 (8M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX6800 (8M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX6700 (8M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6700 (8M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8M Cache, 2.40 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6750 (4M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6550 (4M Cache, 2.33 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6420 (4M Cache, 2.13 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6320 (4M Cache, 1.86 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E4400 (2M Cache, 2.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E4300 (2M Cache, 1.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)

The processor to which you are trying to upgrade is tested by Dell and shall work fine. Make sure you update the bios to the latest version "before" you switch the processor.

Note: Do not turn off power before update complete. Connect your computer with any surge protector (if available) to avoid any unexpected shut down. Also, disconnect all the external peripherals before updating the BIOS. All the programs should be closed and documents saved.

Dell does not recommend or offer processor upgrade but it is as your discretion in case you really wish to go  ahead with it. Warranty per say, issues arising due to the upgrade will not be covered under warranty , however we will continue providing support for other issues and parts.

You may refer to the Owner's Manual of this system for instructions on replacing the hardware components. Make sure that you follow the safety guidelines. I would also recommend you to visit the link http://dell.to/13TZUwz for FAQs of Dell XPS 420 system.

Hope this helps. Please reply if you have any questions.

thanks im aware of these myths because i took a year of computer engineering at uni, im upgrading more to keep it compatible with the newer softwares and games that are being released as the processor is now getting to the lower end of the requirements scale.  

QX9650 would require upgraded Power supply and possibly Heat-sink.  By the time you spend money on the parts you may find that you could have purchased a newer faster system with DDR3 and Core i5 I7 Processor.

XPS 420 375W PS-6371-1DF2-LF   KH624

DN004 - Copper CPU Heatsink & Shroud Assembly, Performance, Tank (for Kentsfield CPU)

saharsh thanks for this list i wasnt aware it existed there are more options than i thought

Hi g456c,

Glad that I was able to share more information with you and it helped. Please reach out to us if you need any assistance, I'll be happy to help.