Upgrading a Dell XPS 420

VISTA SP1  Full install

VISTA SP2 Full Install

Directx June 2010.

Radeon HD 7770.  There really isn't any reason to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8.

Any OEM Blue Ray should come with POWER DVD version 10

or higher because previous versions are no longer supported.

LG 24x Super Multi Internal SATA DVD±RW DL Drive...

Cyberlink PowerDVD 12 (PC)

I have a XPS 420 that has been upgraded to windows 8 pro when MS had the $40 promotion and it is fine, but it cannot keep up with everything new. The 420 is getting to be 5 or 6 years old now. I say use it as is until you can buy new. Bluray and some of the other upgrades would be a waste of money that could be spent on a new computer that are cheaper now. DVD's are on their way out just like floppy disks. Windows 8 cannot even play video dvd's without additional software. Even with Media Center on win 8 pro, win 8 cannot burn video dvd's. Everything will be online very soon. If you want to upgrade a bit, get a new mid range video card that the psu can run and get rid of Vista and that's it. 8 gb of ram is good and you really don't need the rest. I would upgrade to windows 7 instead of 8. My XPS ran the best with that.

The Blueray I suggested costs less than what Dell offers and can be used in the latest machine. And unlike the Dell OEM version the PowerDVD software is supported for updates etc.

Same with a Radeon HD7770.

Only when talking about AGP or PCI 2.3 would I say that buying such things would be a waste. 8 Gigs is more than enough ram but there is no compelling reason to go with windows 7 or 8.  I would actually buy a 64 bit version of windows 7 Pro now because I hate windows 8 and it will likely become unavailable forever in the very near term.

Thank you all for the advice. I am looking forward to the 4th generation processors that are coming out end of this year. I plan on buying a new desktop in the next year or two but I just wanted to do a few small tweaks to hold me over until then. What I was worried about is, say if I purchase the AMD Radeon™ HD 7770 GHz Edition, the website recommends I use at least a 500W power supply. I have heard of horror stories of people buying PSU for their computer and it not fitting and messing up their system. I wanted to hear if anyone has successfully purchased and installed a power supply. Thanks for the graphic card suggestion, it will work for me and is not too expensive. Finally I probably will switch to window 7 ultimate, because my school gets it at a discount.

I have the XPS 420 mate. I recently installed a Sapphire HD 7770. It fits OK although it takes up two rear slots. I have not upgraded the original PSU (I think it's 350 or 375 watts), but the card runs fine.

As for upgrading further, I'm on Vista :emotion-6: 32 bit so I'm stuck in terms of RAM. Wished I'd waited a month, I could have got Windows 7 and upgraded to 64bit free. :emotion-6: I HATE Windows 8 with a passion! It's awful, more locked down than an iDevice! In terms or drives, I'm fine with the DVD as I never watch Movies etc so BluRay would be a pointless upgrade for me. Not sure about upgrading the CPU, seems to be a jump too far to me in this rig so I'm looking for a new PC. I'll harvest the 7770 and chuck it in the new PC... when I can find a decent deal for something with i5.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that the 7770 runs easily with the original PSU.

Thanks for the advice. I am going to look into the Sapphire HD 7770 now

Nope, I mentioned that earlier. I'm not a heavy user, I don't play demanding games or the like so 'perhaps' that has an effect but if it helps, it plays Sniper and Call of Duty 4 without a hitch.

Well, I got so attached to my XPS 420 that mine is barely an XPS 420...

Current MODS =

8 gigs of ram @  1066mhz

EVGA GTX 660 Video Card, 2GB  Dedicated DDR5, Overclocked to 1094 Mhz

Diablotek 600w PS

Overclocked Q6600 CPU to 3.0ghz 1333mhz FSB  ((see tape mod for q6600))

Arctic 5 paste Compound

Stock Cooling, Stock HD,

Soon to be Extra fans "going to cut a hole in the side of the case"

So far, on stress testing, 55c is my max CPU temp, 62 is my max GPU temp although I am going to modify the heat shroud to allow better breathing for the GPU...   idling it my GPU gets to around 29c and my CPU gets to around 27-30c.

Previously I also had a GeForce GT520 2gb DDR3 video card installed, it worked flawlessly and for slightly older games was amazing, unfortunately I was only able to run the new Diablo 3 at around 25fps when in full screen mode....so an upgrade was needed... My overclock has been on this computer for over a year with ZERO heat issues and ZERO reliability issues, and the computer was already a few years old when I did this mod, so...I would say, its completly safe....

I thought of running a liquid cooling setup, but I haven't had very many heat related issues so I just figured I'd had a couple more fans and call it good...but mostly just for my GPU....

Sorry, also running Windows 7 Ultimate

Hi I am thinking to upgrade my Dell XPS 420 from Vista to Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bits. But i have found out from many forums that comments on difficulty in find compatible driver.

How do you solve this?

Hi rayhvs,

I suggest you to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor that scans your hardware, devices, and installed programs for known compatibility issues, gives you guidance on how to resolve potential issues found, and recommends what to do before you upgrade. Please visit the following link to download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor:
http://dell.to/18dTFSJ

Please let me know about your findings.

I am thinking of going with the Diablotek DA Series PSDA600 600W ATX12V v2.2 Power Supply (only 29 from newegg).  Any thing I should be aware of before I install? I know some power supplies will not fit in certain model computers. I assuming this was not the case for the XPS 420.

Hi bhatcher73,

XPS 420 has a Minitower formfactor and standard ATX power supplies are compatible. You can install the Diablotek power supply in XPS 420.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Do you have any tutorials, or just follow the user manuals?

Especially for PSU upgrade and CPU overclocking.

Also what's the quickest non PSU upgrade for the NVidia 8800 GT?  And am I right there is no way to do dual graphics card on this motherboard? A07