Dell XPS 720 CPU upgrade

I would like to upgrade my Dell XPS 720 Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz CPU to an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 3 GHz CPU, which uses the same LGA775 socket.

I would like to ask whether this is relatively straightforward to do by oneself, and whether accessing the motherboard in the computer is easy to do, and if the BIOS needs to be upgraded or anything of the sort.

I am currently running the Windows XP Pro 64 bit edition.

Any help or advice on this matter would be enormously appreciated!

Thank you,

AJS

The only 2.4 quad I see is the Q6600, is that what you have? It is a 1066MHz 65nm part, thus, there is no guarantee unless Dell made a good Mobo that a 1333MHz 45nm part will work.

Well, I think it's a straight forward process. All you need to do is check the motherboard manufacturer's website for compatibility (and possibly flash the BIOS for support), remove the heatsink, clean it, take the old CPU out, put new CPU in, apply TIM, reinstall heatsink, and plug it back in. You won't need to reinstall windows hopefully as you will have the same # of cores and the same architecture.

P.S. IF YOU NEED TO FLASH, DO NOT FLASH IN WINDOWS

Hello guys, thank you very much for your very fast replies!
Yes, it is indeed the Q6600 that I have, and I believe my Dell BIOS version is A05 or something (if I remember correctly).
The motherboard is of Dell production supporting the nVidia chipset.
I think that it should be possible in terms of hardware, these XPS machines are offered with the QX9650 chip.
I tried overclocking the CPU but it only made the computer restart all of a sudden every now and again, so I stopped overclocking it.
If it's the 45 nm or 65 nm that's the issue, then maybe the QX6850 would be a safer option, which is also 65 nm as is the current Q6600.