JetAce44 wrote:Would it be okay to remove the processor from the system, and still run a kernel and software that was built under the SMP system? Would I run into severe problems if I did so?
Software is not the problem (an SMP kernel boots OK on a UP machine). Hardware can be. Some motherboards don't like it and won't boot unless the only CPU is in the correct socket, also some features may not work with only one CPU, ... Normally the manual of your motherboard should tell you what the potential problems are, and which socket to use for a single CPU if the board is sensitive to that.
A dual Athlon board should not be too problematic though (both CPUs are connected to a single chipset, so everything should still work). The problems I know of are mostly for dual Opteron boards, that are sometimes wired like
this, with two chipsets, one on each CPU, so obviously a missing CPU in the wrong place can cause problems.
JetAce44 wrote:I've done both, and its just the fact that the heatsink is about 1cm away from the back of the graphics card that doesnt help.
It won't radiate enough heat to cause problems unless it's already too hot to touch (and if it's that hot, you really need more airflow in the case). There are boards that have heatsinks much closer (look at
this photo, one heatsink is nearly touching the red AGP-Pro slot).