X2 -> core duo

[azrael1]

The higher the res, the less the advantage of the faster cpu as you're pushing the bottleneck over to the graphic card. At 1600x1200 my real limit right now is my GPU (I can see this is all sorts of games).

True but ut also depends on the game type you are playing. Supremem commander ( i hated that game ) however you will notice a huge increase in performance with a overclocked CPU.

[dangel]

Fair point - but Sup Com is heavily cpu dependant because you can have thousands of units in a single level (pathfinding, AI etc) which is pretty unusual (but fun!). It ran fine for me on my current setup all the same.

It's about diminishing returns - if I buy a 8800 then everything gets a _lot_ faster, and if I buy a C2D the difference is marginal.

Don't get me wrong - if I build a new rig it'll be c2d based, it's just that i'm not at the point where it makes any sense verus a new GPU.

[Marcvs]

the 4300 doesnt support virtualisation

[mosherben]

the 4300 doesnt support virtualisation

An E6300 does, and is only £10 more expensive than an E4300 and will overclock to simular speeds for E4300s

[b0redom]

E4300 might not support the new Ring-0 virtualisation, but I don't really care about that - my home stuff is all proof of concept.