Hi, I know exactly how happy you are, I've just bought a Core i7 system myself as an upgrade from my old Pentium D and you're so right, it's staggeringly fast!  Expensive, perhaps ( I went for overclocking and water cooling too) but in the long run as an upgrade from an older generation processor I think it's great value for money, even for a home hobbyist like myself.  In the week and a half since I bought it my productivity has gone through the roof.

There's some Bryce specific render benchtest timings here http://www.alexpensotti.com/bench2.html which may be of use to anyone considering a new PC, and not just the Core i7's.  Top of the chart though (at the time of posting) is a similarly overclocked Core i7 system which does the test render in 2m 22s.  I've mailed Alex my screenshot which is half that at 1m 16s but it's not up on his site as yet.

The freedom a fast PC gives you to really explore your art in general, and Bryce in particular, is a pure joy.

Regards,
Steve.