Upgraded Hardware, looking for advice/recommendations

Hello all,

First of all, thanks; the information here is fantastic, and has been very helpful so far. I'm an infrequent player of WoW, although I play Everquest quite a bit, and this seems to be the best resource for multi-boxing information. I'm hoping to get some opinions from you salty veterans.

I'm in the process of upgrading my computers. Currently I box 6 Everquest accounts on 3 computers as follows:

2 Accounts on Pentium 4 2.26g - 1G RAM - 512mb Radeon X1600 Pro video card (AGP, no PCIe slot)
3 Accounts on Pentium 4 3.0g - 2G RAM - 256mb NVIDIA 5500 video card (PCI, no PCIe slot)
1 Account on Pentium 4 2.6g (laptop) - 1G RAM - 64mb Radeon 7500 video card (laptop proprietary, no upgrade available)

The first computer with the 2 accounts is very slow to load, and crashes frequently, especially when loading or zoning. The second computer does much better, although occasionally I crash. The laptop runs well, although it has everything turned off or down. My computers are all 2-6 years old, and about as upgraded as they can be (as in, RAM is maxed, and I'm stuck with 200-250 watt power supplies with PCI and AGP slots).

So...

I just ordered a Dell Inspiron 530 (I know, I know, it's not optimal for gaming, but I got a great deal at the Dell outlet, they've been very good to me, and I'm on a budget). The specs are as follows:

Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4g - 3G RAM (will upgrade to 4G asap) - 256mb Radeon HD 2600XT - Windows Vista Home Premium OS - 350W Power supply. FWIW I have Cable internet service.

Now the questions:

I'm making a big jump forward from my older computers, I'm just wondering if anyone here has any thoughts on this. I anticipate having some problems with the Vista OS, but it seems like it's getting better after SP1 (with another major upgrade due in June, I'm told). Are there any advantages to upgrading to Ultimate? I really was hesitant to move away from XP, but it seems like Microsoft isn't leaving us much choice.

Think the system is capable of running all 6 accounts, or should I do 3 on the new comp and 3 on the second computer I already have?

Will the computer "know" to send 1 or 2 processes (accounts running) to each core, or can I do that myself somehow by configuring it to do so (as in, 6 instances on 4 cores; how will it be divided up)?

Any thoughts on recommended settings or software to run? I've used EQwindows and WinEQ in the past, as well as EQplaynice. Currently I've just been running each account (in its own directory) without any "aftermarket" support.

My graphic card options are limited somewhat by the 350W power supply, although I'd like to get a solid (with budget in mind) 512mb card, provided the PS can handle it. The 2600XT 256mb that comes with the computer seems pretty good (per tomshardware.com), but I'm sure I can do a little better.

Thanks for any insight or advice you can offer,

Dave

Just my thoughts on Vista here. The biggest problems seem to be with installing it as an upgrade over an existing system, with poor drivers for the 64-bit version, and poor drivers for old hardware. I tried to upgrade over my 3 year old XP installtion and it failed miserably. Reformatted and installed from scratch and it works perfectly. I doubt you'll have serious issues on a pre-installed 32-bit system.

I'm not sure how EQ handles using multiple cores, but I know WoW does not use more than 2 unless you tell it to, so that is worth looking into to make sure you get the most of it.

I really am leary of Vista in general, especially with XP so stable and familiar. I have NO plans to upgrade the XP on my old systems, will probably use at least one for a backup comp, and put the other two in the kids' rooms.

So...

How do you "tell" the computer to use the multiple cores?