New Duel Core 64 bit Chips

I was wondering whether these new dual 64 bit processors from both AMD and Intel will really be worth the expense. Most of us now with the Intel hyper threading chips have not scene much if any benefit in how that technology is working for us. I believe that in order for the hyper threading to work, we needed to have programs that were written to take advantage of it. Is this just another slick marketing ploy to get us to buy their new chips?I am all for upgrading the performance of my 2.8 GHz P4 but I also want the best bang for the buck.Terry