I need to replace a couple of engineering PCs and I'm wondering if a workstation would be a better choice or not. Currently we are using a couple of Dell Dimension 8300 w/3 Ghz CPU, 1 GB RAM and ATI Radeon 9800 display cards and running WinXP Pro. These PCs currently run ... KeyCreator v7: This is a 3D CAD program from Kubotek. It is not written to use multiple processors 2 CAM packages tailored for sheetmetal cutting. They too are not written for multiple processors. I don't have any personal experience with duo or quad core processor systems so my questions are pretty basic. - Would a workstation perform any better for the above type of applications or would an Optiplex do just as well, given comparable CPUs and memory? - Are there any advantages running quad core processors with software not specifically written to take advantage of it? - Does Windows XP Pro inherently take advantage of multiple processors as far as running multiple applications concurrently? A current complaint I hear from these engineers is when they are processing a particularly large job in the CAM software, the system is not much use for other apps while it's processing. Thanks.