I don't believe you need dual core for anything. I can run 3 EQ with a Pentium 2.6 800 FSB, 1 gig of memory.
And yes, I use Win98SE for many reasons, one of which is stability.
/yawn
you also arent playing Vanguard on this machine, where Mad wants to play Vanguard.
As for your socalled stability issues with anything other then Win98.. lol