restoring an XP OS to upgraded dell cpu

new system - windows7(64)- Dell Vostro 430, nvidia 220gt. CPU-I7-860 onboard everything else. no idea the motherboard.
old system custom build 4 years old windows XP(32) sp3- recently udated all microsoft suggested downloads and installed.

my new computer wiht windows 7(64) does not have drivers for some older periferals and software i need to use. my intent is to restore the old computer image onto a completely separate hard drive. then when i need to use these other periferals/programs (about 1-2x per month) i will just change the boot order and boot to the hard drive using xp. (i may even use Disk director 10- OS selector)

i have saved an image of the old CPU and have made a recscue disc that has univeral restore on it.
i do not have the drivers on my cpu but can get them from Dell based on my service tag number (i also have the original CD/dvds that came with but suspect these will relate to windows7 vs xp).

will what i am trying to do work or will i have major problems - in which case would require me to reinstall windows xp on a separate drive in the new cpu.