Question : Problem: Does an 8 core system require 2003 Enterprise Edition?

If I purchase a system with dual processors, and each processor is a quad core, the system will have a total of 8 cores.  According to the feature matrix, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 must be Enterprise Edition to support "8 way SMP".  My question is:

Does Microsoft consider a dual CPU, 8 core system to be "8-way SMP" for the purposes of needing Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition to take advantage of all cores, or will Standard Edition handle it?

I am looking for some kind of clear documentation to show whether or not Windows Server considers cores to be cpus for the purposes of limiting the number of cpus for particular versions of Windows.

Answer : Problem: Does an 8 core system require 2003 Enterprise Edition?

This document should help: http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/1/e/f1ecd771-cf97-4d98-9a1b-b86e3f24e08f/multicore_hyperthread_brief.doc

Microsoft (currently) bases its licenses on the number of physical processors.  In your example, you have two physical processors and therefore Windows Server 2003 Standard should be sufficient.