Poser's inability to use multithreading when rendering is simply sad (and Daz Studio can't either).

Almost every other 3D app is able to use multicpu (Max, lightwave, Cinema 4D, Vue 5 Infinite, Carrara 5, etc.).

Since you mentioned V5i at the beginning of this thread, there is a complete benchmark thread here for those who are interested : http://www.cornucopia3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=391
with a lot of results for a lot of machines, PCs and Macs.