a couple of things
any increase in performance of a cad program will be dependent on the program, logic would dictate that a higher performing cpu ie the C2D over the P4 will make your cad program run better, however with most 3D cad the graphics card and the drivers play a very larger role in performance also.
in my case going from a A64-3500+ to a C2D E6300 all other things being equal, I saw really no noticeable difference running Acad2002 3D solid modeling with file sizes in the 30 to 50 mb range.
CAD programs seem to really like a ton of ram and middle to high end gfx cards with drivers designed for the program. Comparing CAD programs with the same logic as 3D games doesnt quite work IMO. You can try looking at some benchmarks in Catalyst magazine or similar sources.
The best way to tell is to have someone set up a test workstation for you to try real world testing.
any increase in performance of a cad program will be dependent on the program, logic would dictate that a higher performing cpu ie the C2D over the P4 will make your cad program run better, however with most 3D cad the graphics card and the drivers play a very larger role in performance also.
in my case going from a A64-3500+ to a C2D E6300 all other things being equal, I saw really no noticeable difference running Acad2002 3D solid modeling with file sizes in the 30 to 50 mb range.
CAD programs seem to really like a ton of ram and middle to high end gfx cards with drivers designed for the program. Comparing CAD programs with the same logic as 3D games doesnt quite work IMO. You can try looking at some benchmarks in Catalyst magazine or similar sources.
The best way to tell is to have someone set up a test workstation for you to try real world testing.
