Does your PC have multiple cores? Mine does. And I just love it when a developer is able to release something that specifically takes advantage of them. So thanks, Valve!
Team Fortress 2's latest patch - of which, you're no doubt aware by now, there have been many - takes multicore rendering support out of the hands of backdoor console commands and into the proper game options, allowing those with 2-4 core PCs to see faster framerates.