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You have to give more information in order to get good suggestions. Fill in as many of the blanks below as you can:

 

make & model of your computer?_____________________

what is the CPU?_________________

how much RAM?_________________

AGP or PCI-E?________________

what power supply?______________

what type of case?________________

what is your budget?______________

what country?_________________

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If you go the stretch and buy a SLi capable motherboard. You can buy two Nvidia graphics cards. It is a really optimal way to play.

Middle of last year i surfed to Newegg and got two 8600GT for $100 a piece. Just make sure you have a good power supply and enough air flowing through the PC case.

Budget wise I think it's better than buying a $500 graphics card.

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I know the rig well, your biggest problem is the Dell specific power supply. Upgrading that is somewhat of a challenge.

 

Best bet is an 8800gt series 512mb dddr3 cost about 100.00 to 150.00 usd

 

or an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 512MB GDDR3 cost about 100.00 to 150.00 usd

 

Although the pwr requirements is 400w (peak power), Dell uses a pwr average when rating their power supplies. I have been running an 8800GT Superclocked for 6 months with no problems.

 

I have an older xps400 and it runs the games just fine on high to ultra high settings.

 

Upgrading the power supply and the cooling for the case will allow higher ended cards, but if you don't know what you are doing it can be problematic.

 

I loathe giving advice, bang for the buck one of the two I listed......will get you good results with a little dollar outlay.

 

Here are my specs from dxdiag:

 

------------------

System Information

------------------

Time of this report: 2/22/2009, 18:05:07

Machine name: DF55CNB1

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.

System Model: Dell DXP051

BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A07

Processor: Intel® Pentium® D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)

Memory: 3582MB RAM

Page File: 524MB used, 6475MB available

Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS

DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

DX Setup Parameters: Not found

DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

---------------

Display Devices

---------------

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

Manufacturer: NVIDIA

Chip type: GeForce 8800 GT

DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC

Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0611&SUBSYS_C8023842&REV_A2

Display Memory: 512.0 MB

Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor

Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200

Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll

Driver Version: 6.14.0011.6906 (English)

DDI Version: 9 (or higher)

Driver Attributes: Final Retail

 

Hope this helps some.

 

Micky

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I agree that a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB is a good candidate. It looks like it was an original option with the Dell XPS 420. Dell did put in a larger power supply though (425W) if you ordered the 8800GT up front. Dell PSUs have a good reputation and Dell tends to rate them conservatively.

 

If you want to stick with an ATI, I think the ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB is the competition for the 8800GT. It's a little less powerful for gaming but it will put less of a load on your PSU too.

 

Check out the power consumption numbers near the bottom of the chart here:

 

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=11

 

Here is a link to the Video Card Ranking thread on the Official forums. You can check how those two cards rank.

 

http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.ph...eo+card+ranking

 

Newegg is a good place to buy a card. I think the prices will be lower than those buddah listed.

 

Edit: xDXxAscension, You do have a PCI Express x16 slot in your Dell. Way to go for upgradeability!

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Well I've always liked Nivida Graphics card's for some reason, I had one in a previous computer, and it lasted forever. Anywhere I can get another PSU for this DELL.

 

And here's my full specs. Same as when I bought it.

 

------------------

System Information

------------------

Time of this report: 2/22/2009, 22:35:06

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.

System Model: Dell XPS420

BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A06

Processor: Intel® Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz

Memory: 3070MB RAM

Page File: 1040MB used, 5316MB available

Windows Dir: C:\Windows

DirectX Version: DirectX 10

DX Setup Parameters: Not found

DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode

 

---------------

Display Devices

---------------

Card name: ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO

Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.

Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x94C3)

DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)

Display Memory: 1395 MB

Dedicated Memory: 116 MB

Shared Memory: 1278 MB

Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)

 

Edit: You talking about this Graphics Card right http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814133205

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The card you linked to is right. I'm sure it's one of many 8800GTs on Newegg.

 

I would go with Buddah's experience and keep your 375 Watt PSU. A Dell 375 is probably really a 400+ Watt. Dell likes to use a different measurement technique than everyone else. The only reason to put in another PSU would be to get a video card better than the 8800GT.

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