I have been a casual civ player for about 3 years now, from civ 1 which I acquired from a friend, I worked my way through the civs until finally Civ3 was released. Right now, I am considering purchasing a new computer, with strong influence from the long load times present in Sid Meiers greatest achievement. I have read a few threads, some indicating that the processor was the primary component in the load times, and was wondering if anyone had actually tried comparing the load times on a 3.06 Ghz hyperthreading processor, say, to an Athlon 1Ghz. Any help would be appriciated before I lunge $1000 head on into a 3.06Ghz. Thanks