Dell XPS 720: Xeon E5450 support?

[EvieSigma]

Is it at all possible to get the Dell XPS 720 to support the Xeon E5450? I know it supports the Q9650, which is basically the same thing but in LGA775, and I've heard some rumors of 45nm support from the nForce 680i chipset but no specific chips listed. Currently I have a Q6600 installed. 

Here is the CPU-Z profile, running in Windows 7:

https://i.imgur.com/MCeRaKo.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uqQKi0o.jpg

[DeathBringer]

You can try to boot with Xeon E5450 with stepping C0: CPUID=0x10676, sSpec=SLANQ

[EvieSigma]

You can try to boot with Xeon E5450 with stepping C0: CPUID=0x10676, sSpec=SLANQ

That's the chip I happened to buy, so I guess I lucked out. I guess I'll just have to give it a try.

[EvieSigma]

Okay, well, it sort of works. Emphasis on sort of.

The chip shows up in the BIOS just fine, which honestly shocked me as I didn't expect it to work at all:

https://i.imgur.com/FuvQavx.jpg

However, trying to use Windows is another story. It repeatedly crashes with a MEMORY MANAGEMENT blue screen, if it gets into Windows at all without automatically restarting:

https://i.imgur.com/BJFhz48.jpg

I haven't been able to find anyone else who tried this particular CPU in this particular machine so I genuinely have no idea how to solve this problem...

[DeathBringer]

Can you boot from Live CD/USB with Windows?

[EvieSigma]

Can you boot from Live CD/USB with Windows?

I apologize, I don't know what that is. But I can run the Windows 7 installer from a DVD, it just crashes once Windows 7 is installed and you try to boot into it.

[DeathBringer]

Boot "Windows 7 installer from a DVD". When first window appears press Shift+F10
You'll get a command line. Run regedit and make a photo of expanded key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0

[EvieSigma]

https://i.imgur.com/LSu4733.jpg

Here's the result. Everything looks normal here, the CPU and clock speed are both reported correctly...

[DeathBringer]

OK. But I see old microcode...
Let's try to update it without BIOS editing.
Make DOS USB-stick (e.g, by Rufus), download and unzip all files for the modded version of CHECKUP7 to this DOS USB-stick.
Install your Xeon E5450, boot from this DOS USB-stick and make a photo of the screen with results.

[EvieSigma]

https://i.imgur.com/V1gqGzT.jpg

This is the screen I get. But I can't seem to access my hard drive from the DOS on the USB stick to see if it works.