Q6600 and multi-tasking

[Jon12345]

I have a PC that runs mainly the following:

1. Win XP

2. Kaspersky Internet Security

3. Outlook 2003

4. SpamFighter

5. Some proprietary processes that number crunch stuff.

All run simultaneously, except for #5 that kicks in once every 10 minutes or so, for a couple of minutes.

If I go for a Q6600 processor, will 3 of the cores handle 1-4 and then when task #5 kicks in, then the final core handles it? I am trying to avoid the CPU hitting 100% and freezing up the system so other processes grind to a halt.

Can you allocate a program to a core so it has exclusive use of it?

If a program is not designed specifically for a multi-core machine, does that mean that when it runs, it can only use up the power of one processor?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[Jon12345]

Does it remember the settings when you click 'set affinity', even after a reboot?

badbob, Outlook is using up 100% of cpu as SpamFighter checks for spam and Kaspersky checks for viruses.

 

[Jon12345]

I have certain mission critical applications on the PC that have to run full pelt when they kick in. So I would like to control this.

 

[Jon12345]

We do data recovery that analyses file structures. Also, Kaspersky Internet Security seems to suck up lots of processing time. We have a web server on that PC too, so need it to be accessible and not slowed down by CPU overload.