here I go n00bing it up again *sigh*, any way, I have been browsing the forums, and I can't help but notice that there is a bit of talk about editing the ini file for a dual core processor. I am curious as to the reasons for doing this, as I am running a Intel core 2 duo. I am not having any problems, but I was wondering if it would increase performance. I won't post a dxdiag, 'cause I'm just looking for general info here, the game runs fine, but it could be better.

so what is the purpose of editing the ini for dual core processors?

Some dual core and quad core CPU users have said that by inserting a new command iNumHWThreads=2 under the General section of Fallout.ini, and setting it to a value of 1, 2 or 4, this prevents freezing at certain points in the game. In practice this setting should not be required, as it appears to restrict the number of threads used by the game, however you can experiment with different values depending on how many cores of your CPU you want the game to use.