Studio XPS 435t / 9000 compatible processor list

Hi, I also own a XPS 435/9000 i bought back in 2010, it came with a i7 920 And 12 gb ram

as of now I've replaced the video card it came with with a GTX 770 and the 450 watt psu with a corsair 600 watt. 

I cant buy a new computer right now so I wanted to upgrade the CPU without having to change the mobo. 

While I know this machine is quite limited for upgrading, the CPU speed is holding me back a bit, the gtx 770 is one of the fastest videocards around and while the CPU is still great, I really want to be over 3.0 ghz and overclocking with dell is not an option. 

instead of creating a new thread I searched and found this one which is similar to my issue so I will just ask my two questions here.

my first question is, why does dell recomend not to upgrade the CPU on the machine? What's the problem?

and second, is the list provided in the post above still the same today? That post was on April 2013 and while the bios is still the same version as it was then, I don't know if maybe someone figured out to upgrade to a higher i7 class.

i hope someone can help me with this.

full specs of my machine are.

xps 435/9000 

i7 920 2.6ghz

12gb of ram

originally radeon hd 5800 now upgraded to nvidia gtx 770

originally 450 watt psu now upgraded to a corsair 600 watt

1tb hd (2 500 drives)

windows 8.1

the only other hardware I've installed myself is a PCI wifi adapter.

bump ?    :emotion-6:

Bumpity bump?

Is there a reason that you don't just use the 965?  It meets the specs you are looking for, and was listed by a Dell employee as being compatible (which probably is simply a list of processors with which the PC shipped from Dell as optional components).

In theory, any of the following "could" work (Compatible Products):
http://ark.intel.com/products/36785/Intel-X58-Express-IO-Hub

The list above hasn't changed since his post either, so nothing should have changed, but some of the above may be limited by power, cache, or speed limitations of the BIOS or system in general.  However, if the 965 works, the 975 should too, as it has the same power requirements and cache.  If the system will handle the 12MB cache of the Gulftown processors, then the 980X and 990X should also work.  Basically, if you want safe and "guaranteed" to work, then go with the 965, as recommended by the guy from Dell.  If you want a better processor, with a possibility that it won't work, then try the 9x0X.

Thanks for the reply :)

I've read other compatibility lists that show that some of the higher tier 9xx don't work. Probably a cache issue as you say. Yet other posts show that they all work. I was kind of waiting for a reconfirmation from a dell employee as to why some will work, some won't and especially why they recommend not changing the CPU at all. So then I feel a bit safer before buying.

"I was kind of waiting for a reconfirmation from a dell employee as to why some will work, some won't"

Well, you probably won't get it, and even if you do, it is very likely they will ONLY be able to tell you one thing:  which processors Dell validated for use in the 435, meaning only the processors Dell ever sold the 435 with as configurable options during purchase.  They most likely did not test or validate ANY other processor in the 435, since they never intended to use it.  Dell is not in the business of making white-box systems that are 100% upgradeable and customizable, so some parts are not upgrade-friendly, like control panels, chassis layout, and power supplies ... other upgrades are not "supported" simply because Dell never designed the system for that purpose.  They sell end-user solutions - computers configured to the end-users' needs.  True, their configuration options do not always meet every users' every demand, but pretty close.  That isn't to say that upgrading Dell computers "can't" be done - after all, they use standard computer parts found in other OEM systems and even sold individually at retail - Dell just can't say it is "supported" or "recommended", because they haven't tested/validated it.  It is like food that has allergy notices on it ... most foods are 99.999% likely NOT to contain those allergens, but because the company can't (or won't) guarantee that ALL allergens are absent, they put the warning on the label.  Anyone working for Dell, as a representative of Dell, can't "recommend" an unofficial solution or procedure - they CAN recommend a Dell-tested and validated solution/procedure.  He should/could, however, state that that is the reason why he must make that statement - "it may or may not work, but Dell hasn't validated any other processor" ... and language may be as much to blame there as anything.

Whatever you choose to try, post the results here, so others may benefit from the experience.  Like so many "unsupported" upgrades and scenarios, you never know until you try ... you have only educated guesses.

unfortunately you are right, these machines are not great as far as upgrading.. such a big beautiful case but a locked mobo, we can't even overclock, oh well.

I am sure the cpus he lists as compatible are the cpus that originally came with the machine, what worries me is that even those he recommends not upgrading to, which confuses me. At the very least I would like to know the reason for that recommendation, I hope it simply isn't company policy to get users to decide and buy a new machine instead!

I found a pretty good deal for a uses i7 965, in great condition but all he sells me is the chip, no fans or heatsink etc. I wonder if I would have any problem using the fan that already came with my 920.

the 435t/9000, uses an X58 board/chipset, and you are talking about the Bloomfield processors, all have the same archetecture/lithography(ie 45nm,max tdp 130W ect.) from i7920 to i7975 extreme(the extreme has 6.4 GT/s QPI, but should still work) I7980 and above are 6 core processors(i believe) - I would not recommend with your locked bios....also the I7965/I975X  come with a bigger than stock fan than on the I7920, the stock fan in the 435t/9000 *** anyhow...you can get a I975 extreme fan ebay for 38.00(w/blue led) and bolt that to any of the bloomfield processors.As far as your confusion from Dell, its exactly what you think it is......they want you to buy a new computer, they also have not tested, etc. (by the way to change out processor fan requires pulling the board and pushing out the threaded fan mounts dell puts on there boards-they push out easy....have you downloaded realtemp to monitor heat on your I7920, i bet its runnin 60-70 celcius in that big red box............idle temps

Upgraded my 435T/9000 to a i7-980 (6 cores @ 3.33Ghz) when they first came out. Came with a nice heatsink/fan from Intel which seems to keep temps low.  Been running with it since, no issues. 

If I still had the original i7-920 and was looking to upgrade today, unless I could find a good deal on a CPU, I'd probably go for a new system that is overclockable - 435T has no such options in the BIOS. 

EDIT:

The "official" support for the Intel Gulftown processors was buried cryptically in a BIOS update note which I can no longer find on Dell's website.  A15 BIOS firmware update stated (from my 2012 screen capture below):

"Update BIOS to support new intel CPU (Gulftown) launch."

The Gulftown processors included i7-970, i7-980, i7-980X and i7-990X (wikipedia).

From my notes I kept dated November, 2011, I was able to find users on the Dell Commmunity site with the 435T running i7-970 and i7-975.

At the time, I inferred that since the older i7-975 worked for another user, up to the Gulftown i7-980 should also work, since they have the same 25x Multiplier. 

But, note while the I/O bus speed on i7-920 and i7-980 are the same (4.8 GT/s QPI),
the i7-980X and i7-990X CPUs support speeds of 6.4  (although they may step down to 4.8 - not sure).  This may or may not be an issue with i7-980X / i7-990X compatibility.  I personally have never seen users stating they're running a Dell Studio XPS 435T 9000 with either a i7-980X or i7-990X.

Below is a screen capture from Dell's site I took on January 9, 2012 - note the "Features and Enhancements" section:

EDIT:  Although A15 is no longer listed under 435T/9000 Support, the link in the above screen capture still seems to work:  http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?DriverId=R261218

HWiNFO details of 435T/9000 with 6-core i7-980.  Note what 435T/9000 is capable of:  48GB memory (requires Windows Vista/7 Pro/Ultimate or Windows 10 (any version) to get past Windows 8/16GB memory limits).  Also running 3 SSDs and 2 optical drives and a Sapphire HD 7850.  (This system has also been upgraded to support USB 3 with an add-in PCIe card.)  Original motherboard and PSU (although it's near its limits).

Techgee this (gulftown support) should be in the following A16 bios correct?....I think I upgraded from A12 to A16

Techgee, how are you running ssd's at 6gbs,- from memory I thought that was 2nd gen sata (3gbs) i still have an old 435t in a closet somewhere...maybe I should dig it out..

You're correct - SSDs are capable of running at 6Gb/s, but are not running at that speed, since 435T/9000 only supports 3Gb/s.

If I drill down to each SSDs in HWiNFO it shows it more clearly:

Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 3Gb/s

I personally find 3Gb/s fine, as in most cases I'm limited by Gigabit Ethernet speeds or 4K read/writes (I don't know of any SSD that can do 4K faster than 3Gb/s).

You can see I'm running the last BIOS, A16, in the lower left hand section of HWiNFO.  i7-980 Gulftown reported at top left.

Hope that answers your questions.