Haven't tried really CPU intensive stuff like that. But I do know that doing something else (like browsing) during a render is awfully slow on the single core machine, and performs just fine on the dual core machine.

My (ahem) "artistic" work consists of scene elements set up in Poser, converting those elements to Vue 5 .VOBs and rendering the final scene in Vue Infinite. I make the scene elements on the single core machine and do the Vue stuff on the dual core machine. Scenes consisting of easily a dozen human figures, plus a complex environment, that's something Poser just can't handle. Vue 5 Infinite can. But even on the dual core machine the render usually takes several hours.

The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you literally want to have some impact, use a typewriter

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