Ant writes:

Hello all.

I am planning to upgrade my computer again next month. I am at a loss
on which Intel Core 2 Duo CPU to get since there are so many models:

Doesn't much matter, most games today aren't particularly CPU
intensive since they have to run on consoles too... So unless you plan
to play some simulations that actually have CPU-intensive AI, you'd be
fine with whatever you have now, was it AMD X2 something. Video
encoding is also a task that never seems to go fast enough...

I'd just put the beefiest video card you can find in your current PC
and enjoy.