based on the link brian provided, I can multitask better still with some of the single core than some of the lower end dual core at about 1/2 the cost, and many of the single core's are faster if you are not multitasking. I understand the ram thing and that does make a lot of sense. I'm getting more into photography so that may be a big deal for me very soon. I'm leaning toward the AMD 64 4000+ San Diego and an ECS mother board. The mobo has optical out, 4-slots for ram, firewire, 4pci slots, 6 ata100, sata, and is all set up for a raid system... everything I can think of that I need, plus since it is a 939 socket I can upgrade the processor to an AMD dual core down the road if this one doesn't cut it, and I can use the ddr 400 ram that is in my present machine. With a case, 2 @ 400GB drives, 19" 4ms widescreen lcd, a 400w power supply, and 2 slide-out 5.25 hard drive bays, it is $665 shipped to my door. I'm planning on using my existing 1GB of ram for now but I'm sure that will get upgraded once I get into photoshop.
Matt