Cyclo-cross bike Vs MTB

Did my first ever cyclo-cross race at Misterton yesterday. Wow, that was hard, but I really enjoyed it. Really well organised and very friendly. This won't be my last race, definitely want to do a lot more next season.
I did the race on my old 26 inch wheel, hardtail with the front suspension locked out. I was towards the back, not quite dead last, but certainly (lots of) room for improvement, mostly with the rider.
Obviously N+1 means I have to buy a new bike and my question is, how much quicker can I expect to find a dedicated cyclocross bike compared to my old hardtail? Or am I deluding myself that the bike will make much of a difference?
I did the race on my old 26 inch wheel, hardtail with the front suspension locked out. I was towards the back, not quite dead last, but certainly (lots of) room for improvement, mostly with the rider.
Obviously N+1 means I have to buy a new bike and my question is, how much quicker can I expect to find a dedicated cyclocross bike compared to my old hardtail? Or am I deluding myself that the bike will make much of a difference?
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Get a CX bike and join us for real
Obv a cross bike will be way easier on the dismounts / remounts and shouldering - this feels like the essence of cross in some ways although a lot of courses will be very light on this. I race the NW courses and there's generally v little running unless the weather has swamped a course. Technique through the turns is significantly more valuable.
I'd also rate the CX bike as being way more capable in pure mud as far as racing goes. 33 tyre at low pressure, light rigid frame is just the optimised tool for the job, they cut through and grip, can scale some really tough muddy pitches that you'd never get up on a MTB - had a couple of battles on very heavy courses with guys on mountain bikes with them running half way round the course and me riding as they couldn't get rolling. Big tyres suck in mud [I have a B+ MTB and it's a grip monster on mixed terrain, but for pure mud it can be a bit of a heartstopper when it swaps ends].
A MTB is good on courses with harder surfaces and less turning, dry conditions, plus any sustained descents are generally good news for railing down. Some courses have real mudbath descents and if you can't establish a line (e.g. the entrypoint is on a turn, say) they can start to ask some questions on the cross bike, guys going on their backsides left and right. A MTB will always make easier work of these situations plus be more forgiving of mistakes.
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Looking forward to doing a few more races next season.