Upgrading to dual core, where will I notice the most improvements?

[Codesmith]

Today when the UPS guy comes I am gong from a socket 939 A64 3000 to an X2 4200.

I would like to do something with my computer, switch CPU's, then do the same thing and notice that it is faster.

Not just benchmarks, something I can notice subjectively.

Any suggestions?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Video encoding, something like Nero Recode.

 

[Maziar]

agreed with mousemonkey and also some games , photoshop, 3dmax...

 

[Codesmith]

Photoshop! Great idea! I can play around with photoshop immediately before and after the upgrade.

Thanks everyone.

PS - Added 2x512 of Crucial Ballistix recently ($35 after rebate), so now I have 2 GB of DDR @ 500mhz. NF4 Chipset. Running Vista cause I need to know vista, but will dual boot to XP once the 750 GB HD gets here (also today).

My new upgrade strategy is to spend more the the motherboard and less on the CPU and then upgrade CPU and memory once between new systems. And obviously video cards as needed.

I think I waited too long on the 939 system as many of the faster 939 X2's disappeared. It was the X2 4200 or an opteron.

 

[Onus]

Assuming you have an anti-virus program at least, not to mention firewall or other background software, you will notice your games no longer stuttering when those background tasks do something like look for (or install) updates. I noticed a phenomenal difference last year when I went from a 3200+ to an X2 3800+. Programs weren't notably faster, they just didn't get slowed down intermittently. You may see a higher max speed as well.