Read this thread...

If you get a new motherboard, it will be easier to get a new case too because Dell uses customized connectors between motherboards and the front panels. They don't make those connections known, so you'd have to be able to map the specific connections to the XPS 8300 front panel from any new board.

And you'll also need to purchase a new Microsoft license for Windows because the license you have now is tied to the Dell board.

You might be able to improve performance by replacing the HDD with a new/faster SSD and/or adding more RAM.

Y2MRG XPS 8300 Vostro 460 

Not sure what you mean by faster.

INTEL makes the sockets change so you have to buy new ram and new cpu.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/xps-8300/drivers

View full driver details

Getting a new GPU is possible once you update the bios.

GTX 1650 is a great card.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13vY67_sXbg

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@redxps630 wrote:
“ Sandy Bridge chipsets, except B65, Q65 and Q67, support both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs through a BIOS upgrade.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1155

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Don't hold your breath! Not going to be a BIOS update for this PC model to support Gen 3 CPUs...

@mosritemecha  - Only if Dell added support for Gen 3 CPUs. And only Dell knows for sure, unless somebody has posted that they've actually upgraded to a Gen 3 CPU.

This benchmark page doesn't report any data for Gen 3 CPUs in the XPS 8300...

Bios version doesn't make your chip set suddenly support Ivy Bridge (3rd generation) or a Haswell (4th generation) Intel® Core™ i7-3920XM or newer is not  supported

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/52807/intel-h67-express-chipset.html

Edit It would appear that the chipset works with 3rd gen. Dell only supports the CPU it shipped with YMMV

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/52807/intel-h67-express-chipset.html#tab-blade-1-1

Intel® Core™ i7-3770T

Intel® Core™ i7-3770S  shouldn't be a problem with the vrm on the motherboard.

There are few performance gains if you already have a core I7.  You are stuck at Sandy bridge based on your chipset.  If you want newer get an XPS 8910 8920 8930.

Thats why you get a new GPU.   I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RECOMMEND a G5 system or the 8940 with the wonky proprietary power supply that is not upgradeable.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Dell-XPS-8300/1296

2600K is top end per users.

I'm not saying anything.

I'm not dell

I don't write dell bios

YMMV

Ivy Bridge cpu will either work or not.

Absolutely no guarantees or fitness for a particular purpose.

Inspiron 3847 is a better Upgrade than trying to get a bump out of sandy bridge XPS 8300.

Even 9020 Mini Tower with optional 365w power supply would be a better investment for your money.

Sometimes it's just not cost effective to upgrade and older product that will be capped on performance vs abandoning ship and going to the next tier or two up. Unless you can find parts for free or really, really cheap to upgrade your current pc I'd recommend looking into a good used newer gen XPS model. There's always good deals to be found on local sites like Facebook marketplace or OfferUp. Some people upgrade their pc's and practically give away their "older to them" technology. Just make sure whoever you deal with is reputable or has good feedback and will let you test it out or have screenshots of benchmarks, etc. You can probably find something more current for the same price as trying to upgrade the old.

For anyone stumbling into this thread in 2024 for hobbyist purposes, I can say definitively that the XPS 8300 will not run a 3000-series processor. I tried a Core i5 3470, and it won't boot. I swapped in a 2500 and 2600, and both booted immediately.

I'm on the A06 BIOS. That said, if somehow you've found yourself looking to see what options you have for an old 8300, put in an SSD and some more DDR3 RAM. The 2000-series processors are still workable for light-computing tasks.

Note that they're picky about GPUs, though. I couldn't get anything newer than a Radeon HD 6000 (specifically a 6870 and a 6850) to run due to a BIOS limitations.

@dancfuller​  I still run my Dell XPS 8300 but on Linux Mint it runs great the 2nd Gen Icore 5 hardly breaks a sweat, I have just added a SSD drive, have the memory now at  12 gigs,  my advise is moving to Linux with these old machines