Dando uma xeretada na pasta arch\x86 do kernel 2.6.37, no KConfig, achei este interessante texto:
config SMP
bool "Symmetric multi-processing support"
---help---
This enables support for systems with more than one CPU. If you have
a system with only one CPU, like most personal computers, say N. If
you have a system with more than one CPU, say Y.
If you say N here, the kernel will run on single and multiprocessor
machines, but will use only one CPU of a multiprocessor machine. If
you say Y here, the kernel will run on many, but not all,
singleprocessor machines. On a singleprocessor machine, the kernel
will run faster if you say N here.
Note that if you say Y here and choose architecture "586" or
"Pentium" under "Processor family", the kernel will not work on 486
architectures. Similarly, multiprocessor kernels for the "PPro"
architecture may not work on all Pentium based boards.
People using multiprocessor machines who say Y here should also say
Y to "Enhanced Real Time Clock Support", below. The "Advanced Power
Management" code will be disabled if you say Y here.
See also <file:Documentation/i386/IO-APIC.txt>,
<file:Documentation/nmi_watchdog.txt> and the SMP-HOWTO available at
<http://www.tldp.org/docs.html#howto>.