A dual core processor has more raw processing power, yes. Don't confuse it with hyperthreading though. A lot of people think they have a dual processor machine when they have a hyperthreading CPU. Those CPU's simply have two instruction pipelines. Thus, if one pipeline is waiting on I/O or another request, the
single core can execute instructions from the other pipeline. Now that I think about it, context switching must be a b!^@h with those. But I digress.
A dual core processor does infact contain two cores that can execute simultaneously. Depending on what you use the machine for, you could benefit greatly. I am not sure how certain applications will react to a dual core proc. It's probable that if they are capable of using a dual processor machine, they could probably use a single, dual core processor. Some apps won't use a second processor if one exists. The OS should, though. But honestly, you probably aren't going to see a whole lot of performance increase in that area. Again, it depends on what you are doing with the PC.
I haven't looked into it much, but if your current apps could take advantage of dual procs and you have a need for more power, I would look into it. But if you really aren't taxing the machine too much (ie not something like video editing), then you probably won't be better off. Considering the price of the processor you spec'd, I'd probably pass.
Have you checked if your board supports that proc?
If you are looking to upgrade something, I would ditch that Raptor OR get another and stripe them in RAID 0 and, of course, keep good backups. If you don't get another Raptor, get another 200GB WD and do the same. Are you using Serial ATA? Secondary storage is always a big bottleneck in modern systems, that's kinda where I would focus my attention. Otherwise, your big dawg processor is just going to spend more time waiting
Hope this helps.
