I decided to sacrofise the matrox and stick to AMD chips and have a computer built for me.
now the question is wether to go dual core AMD or single?
is reliability, compatibility and etc an issue with the dual cores?
if not is it wise to spend the extra $150 and get a dual core 4200 vs. single core 4000?

MD 64 4000+
Clawhammer or a AMD 64FX-xx $368

A64 X2 4200+ (2x512,2.2) $473

here are the specs:
MotherBoard:
FoxConn: supports dual core CPUs
supports SLI (2xPCI-express video)
PATA & SATA RAIDs (0,1,0+1 JBOD)
2x ATA133 (4 devices)
6x SATA II (6 devices)
Audio: 7.1 channel High Definition
Dual Ethernet Lan (2x10/100/1000MB)
S/PDIF Out 1x Optical and 1x Coaxial
4x USB 2.0 rear
supports 2x FireWire
Memory: 1GB DDR400 Dual Channel
Video Card: Rosewill Geforce 6600 256MB DDR 128-bit
DVI, TV out. SLI not supported.
Case: 550W Broadway comp. case.
Optical dirve: Samsung all DVD+/-RW +DL ($35)

Total with shipping for PC & 4000+CPU:
FedEx 3-day $848
FedEx 2nd day: $859
FedEx Overnight: $871

Software before hardware... What do your tools recommend as far as dual processors vs single? That is what helps you decide. If you plan on HDV, I suspect that your NLE vendor will eventually recommend a dual, but you should verify that.