kernel for 8 core XEON

<p>Hi, I have started using the xeon for large intensive jobs. However, only 1 core runs at 100percent. The rest at ~20. My software is for all 8cores. The developer says it's a Linux issue.</p> <p>On reading it appears Ubuntu isn't ready for 8cores by default and I need to rebuild the kernel. This isn't a prob. However, before starting will someone pls tell me is it ok to find the current ker. source and re configure rather than worry about supporting all necessary drivers in a new file?</p> <p>Or, is there a better Linux distro for parallel use? I used Gentoo for years so rebuilding is easy. But will someone advise me on this since I don't want any mistakes with Ubuntu?</p> <p>Thank you. Gav.</p>