Results of my very meager system

[Yogi]

Processors are made with a 50% safety margin. The indicative point is processor temperature and most can withstand up to 70C. Some people add super coolers when overclocking. I've done than and I've used the stock cooler and running ~25% overclock temps in the 40C range are easily obtainable. The thing is that the processor will run cooler at less loads. On SAC with a 32% CPU load I'm finding that the processor itself is only loaded at about 15%. CPU Temps were a cool 34C. That isn't even breaking a sweat. If you can obtain 25% overclock without changing core voltage then the processor life will not be affected at all. Even small increments in core voltage will still keep it well under the 50% safety margin.

[AntonZ]

I run a modest channel count on an old Dell P4. 3 GHz, 2GB RAM. RME Digi 9652, 2x ADA8K

16 in
stereo + subs out (Linkwitz Riley crossover plugin)
1 or 2 monitor mixes
Processing: some EQ and dynamics, two instances of RML Reverb

Have also tried running the same load on an old IBM T42 Thinkpad, 1.7GHz Pentium M, 512MB RAM, RME Digiface. Works for me, although it could do with some extra memory. Thinking about upgrading to 1GB (cheap: add 1x512MB) or 2GB (expensive, replace with 2x 1GB). That would become a necessity if I add more scenes, not too many of those just yet.