Hi guys!

I would like to ask a computer Guru :-) about the following.

I know that one can render faster with more physical processor cores (double, quad) but what about the new Intel i7 QuadCore processor with hyper-threading? (2.66-2.80 Ghz per core)

It uses 2 threads per processor core and the VistaOS 64 (+ your 3D software) may see it as 8 cores (4 cores x 2 threads) but when you do PURE rendering...how much faster will it be with 4 extra "virtual processors; will you have a super-duper render machine with a  speed of 8 x 2.66 GHz for example or it won't be that fast after all?

Provided you use B6.1 you can take advantage of the Priority (high) setting for rendering. This actually works and you should see a marked improvement in render times.

Thanks Bryster!
I still wonder if the new i7 quad core can behave like a 2 x   4 core processor with hyper threading.

I ask it because I would like to know if I have to buy a double processor (double quad core)  computer or it would be enough with the i7(with 4 cores)  which simulates 8 cores.

hyper-threading is likely a buzzword. Threading in processors has been around since the early Pentiums. It just means that each instruction can be separated and sent out of sequence to run more quickly.

the problem is the software. If it's not written to use threading, then it really doesn't affect the speed one way or the other. As the Cardinal sez, 6.1 has been written to take advantage of it.

to the best of my knowledge, Bryce is a 32-bit app. Like threading, the software has to be written to take advantage of the capability. Since 64-bit processors aren't that old, the 'money' in writing programs is to write to the platform (32 bit) that has the most eyeballs in front of it.

If they come out with a 64-bit version of Bryce, it would run faster. Else, then it will probably run slightly faster, but probably not enough to notice.

I stick with the old adage; "One can never be to rich, to thin or have to much processing power." MORE POWER !!!! POWER to the PEOPLE !!

Thanks guys!
I'll keep looking for a nice quad core proc. configuration..  :-)

 When HT first came out it was said to provide up to about 30-35% speed increase..

You can see HT as using 'the left-overs' of available computing power that wasnt used by the 1st thread, to execute a 2nd thread...
But the performance gain depends a lot on what these left-overs are, and how well these left-overs are suited to the needs of the calculations in your 2nd thread.