i have amd64 3200+ but with vanilla XP.. its just fine :) also have 1gig ram Where I see the real difference is in how much stuff I can have in my scene without bogging down to a crawl...the rendering is for sure a lot faster.

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together.
All things connect......Chief Seattle, 1854