could use advice on upgrading my graphics card

No and no don't believe dell:)

Here is a link to a site that I've used it details the top 15 video cards from low to high

http://www.techradar.com/news/computing-components/graphics-cards/15-best-graphics-cards-in-the-world-today-654141

if you have the cash look at this video

I just guesstimated I didn't do huge jumps. On my old computer that had 300w I went to a 450 or 500w and went with a 5770 card but you could go with an nvidia version as well.

From the list of known issues on SWTOR:
"ATI video cards may experience some graphical inconsistencies such as blank icons, blank character portraits, or flickering shadows. These may supersede the other issues listed here."

I have always had good experiences with Nvidea GeForce cards. The one I have now is GTX 550 Ti I bought last summer. It only cost me $120.00.

Quote by jlpinli

hey all this is a shout out for help. now that i have played STO for over a year and played the old republic beta time def for an upgrade. ok iam not a PC expert yet i have contacted dell this is what they offered me ATI Radeon HD 3450 graphics dual DVI/VGA and tv out for $151.00 ok the price is not a big deal but what research i found on this seems to be low end here is a screen shot of my computer specs.
i have attached them as a word file figure this would be easier than trying to type all that techno babel. i have had class mates suggest certain cards but couldn't tell me if my machine would blow up i know now that i paid way to much for this crappy dell but its less than 2 years old wasn't ready to by a gaming machine yet thanks for all your help

Okay, Dell is so trying to screw you with the HD 3450 update, as that card is a few generations old (they going to announce the 7000 series today =)). Theres is this card on newegg(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161384) which is a HD 6870 for 139.99 and all you need is a minimum of 500 watts. I would rather go with a 600-700 watt power supply just in case, just make sure to go with a good company, such as cooler master, corsair etc. Also, go with a 80 plus certified power supply if you can afford it.

I tried to get that answer from the manufacture and I got the canned your computer isn't wasn't tested with psu's higher then 300w so I just said screw it and bought the 500w and bought my 5770. I just upgraded my puter in the early fall I got it from newegg cost me 1103 with shipping handling and taxes. Its a 2500k with 8gs of mem and a gtx 560 non ti and 1tb hard drive with two expansions slots for additional pci stuff. I'm looking at getting a second gtx 560 for sli as I looked at benchmarks and it held pretty good in sli mode against single 580s and 590s.

Oh I switched back to nvidia from ATI as ATI doesn't have a lot of driver support and I was having issues in swtor in the first beta weekend viewing holos I couldn't seen anything but white light.

Ok man... Just to set a few things straight, a higher power output PSU isn't going to fry your computer by plugging it in... The wattage rating on a PSU is there to indicate to you how many devices it can support/load it can handle (ie: hard disks, DVD/Blu Ray trays, Graphics cards) NOT how much power it's pumping into your system... Your PSU regulates and distributes that to the rest of your system as needed... If you got 5 hard disk drives, it'll pull more power than say, 2 hard disk drives... It's a common misconception, I've been there myself :)

Using my computer as an example, I'm STILL using a Core2Duo 4400 with 2GB of RAM right now (yes, it is due for an upgrade)... I had to upgrade my GPU a year ago cos my old one died from age, and went with the Nvidia GeForce GTS 250... That meant I had to upgrade my PSU (All PCI2 cards require a dedicated power source)...

I got a 550W PSU at the time but I went with a cheaper brand and paid for it when it fried itself out, but that's beside the point... Anyways, last week, I replaced it with a 600W CoolerMaster one (for posterity)... And it's still running everything fine, including the SWTOR Beta, no issues at all...

From the specs I see you have for your computer, the Dell Inspiron 546, it's a AMD X4 Quad Core processor... That means, Dell basically shafted you and gave you a cheaper, underpowered PSU for your system... You'll definitely want to have a better graphics processor because since I don't see any listed in your specs, that means Dell double shafted you with an integrated graphics processor (one that's hard wired into your motherboard)...

So, I say all that to say, if my waaaaay older system can handle a 600W PSU with no issues, I don't see why your's can't:)

Just go with a reliable PSU or you may end up paying the price difference eventually when it fails (I was recommended CoolerMaster or Andyson)...

Now, as for selecting a GPU, go for one that fits your budget and how long you intend to wait to upgrade it next... Something in the $150-$200 would last you 2 years, $200-250 range, 3 years, and so on (I would suggest Nvidia, since there's issues with the ATI as kindly mentioned by Zeddikas)...

Then, what you will need to do, and ask someone to help you with this if you aren't sure, is get a screwdriver, power your system down completely, pull out the power cable from the back of it, crack that baby open, yank out that old power supply, along with all the wires connected to your hard disks, DVD drives, motherboard and whatnot, put in the new one and look for a slot to plug in your new card (it'll only fit in one slot... *snark*)...

Then you have the fun job of reconnecting everything you pulled out, screw the case back together, pop in the back socket, plug your monitor into your shiny new card and then download new drivers for your card once your computer's up and running and you're ready to roll...

Hope something in that wall of text has been helpful :)

Ati cards or at least my Ati card did have an issue with displaying shadows. It left them flickering in the beta so I had to turn them off or at medium. at medium though shadows became almost non existant. I'm using two 5770's btw. but dual graphics aren't supported at the moment.