Another question:

What about the cooling? Can i use an aftermarket cooler? Or should i keep the one that Dell supplies?

Sorry for my English, i'm from Belgium! :emotion-1:

Kenz0r,

Before changing any hardware, test the PC out and see if it meets your needs. The Q9550 should work with our power supply and cooling. You could even go to this one -
Yorkfield Quad Core kit, QX9650, 3.0G, 12MB, 1333FSB, C1

The Q9550 is supported in the XPS 430. See this FAQ thread. Retail processors will work fine in your 430 since they're the same as what Dell sells. You'll save money by buying from a retailer.

You do not need a new power supply. What you have (either 425w or 375w) has plenty of power to support the Q9550 and the rest of your configuration.

Regarding cooling, you have to use the heatsink/fan that is currently on your 430. It is more than adequate for cooling all of the supported processors for a 430. After market coolers will not work due to the proprietary Dell motherboards. Just clean the heatsink/fan and apply new thermal grease (instructions) to the processor then flip the heatsink/fan back over the processor and firmly tighten the screws.

The first thing i'll do when it arrives, is testing the machine.
I'm glad to hear that i can change the CPU (and/or graphic card). I wasn't sure that Dell left these options open for the consumer.

I still have one more question:

If i go with the Q9550 (QX9650 is too expensive) and i even change my GPU to let's say a ATI 4870 1 GB or a ATI 4890 (1GB  DDR 5), then i think i'll need to change the power supply?
What PSU should i look out for (Watts & brand) and with which pins?

Thanks for the quick responds guys! Great service!

Greetings

Kenny

FSP FSP460-60GLC - 460 Watt Power Supply

Is the PSU below a good alternative for the one you are suggesting? (check "specs" - tab)

http://www.hardware.info/en-UK/productdb/bGhkZ5iUmJHKY8g/viewproduct/Cooler_Master_Real_Power_M520/

Due to the unavailability of the FSP460 in Europe, i would buy this one, but i need to be sure it will work.

Thank you for the efforts! :emotion-1:

Honestly, any ATX PSU will work. Just make sure it has all the SATA and PCI-E connectors you need for your drives and video card.

Honestly, any ATX PSU will work. Just make sure it has all the SATA and PCI-E connectors you need for your drives and video card.

I've been looking for hours if an ATX PSU would fit and i couldn't find 100 % reliable answers. Thanks to you, i know this will work!

Greetings from Belgium :emotion-2:

Hello,

Bit of a late post to this thread.

I have an XPS 430 with a Q8200 CPU. Unfortunatly I did not realise this would not support 64 bit virtual machines, as it does not have VT technology. I see I can upgrade the processor to one that supports VT technology.

 So far so good.

However is the VT technology automatically enabled in the BIOS or will I need to do some kind of work around to enable this. I see a number of other Dells have the option to enable / disable VT, but I can't see this option in my BIOS (A01).

Thanks

Peter

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps430/en/SM/setup.htm#wp1054053 XPS 430 Manual

Hi
I have asked the same question on another Dell forum and never recived yes or no ,
I would like to know if the XPS 430 will support Virtualization Technology with a new CPU that has it ? the manual does say it will .
Virtualization
(Off default)
Specifies whether a virtual machine monitor (VMM) can utilize the additional hardware capabilities provided by Intel® Virtualization Technology.
Off — Disable Virtualization Technology
On — Enable Virtualization Technology

But in my bios there is no option that i can find , does that option show up with a new CPU UPGRADE ?
So if Dell-Chris M or someone that knows for sure can help out that would be grate.
Thanks for now .