I started using Superfly on my old system and almost gave up and move back to Firefly due to the very long render times but then some suggested not using Branched Path Tracing. The reduction in render times was significant so I stuck with Firefly. Just over a year ago I was in the very lucky position of having a lump sum from my pension that had underpaid me for years, as it was an unexpected windfall I decided to spend it on a new system. I was having it built as these days to like to use a computer not build or continually fix them. I did look at a dual Xeon system but even with a fair amount to spend they were outside what I had to spend. I finally went with a CPU for a system with 12 cores, 24 threads but there was a problem during the build. After a bit of negotiation on price I upgraded to the next CPU up, 16 cores and 32 threads. One of the first things I did was a trying to render with Branched Path Tracing and the results, while faster, were disappointing.

These days I still do not use PBT, set the samples to 50 with progressive refinement and just let it run. About 50% of the time I stop the render part way through once it has reached a point I am happy with. The render is fast and is of a quality I am happy with. PBT might create a better result but not that much better I am prepared to wait so long for the result.

 

 

I use Poser 13 on Windows 11 - For Scene set up I use a Geekcom A5 -  Ryzen 9 5900HX, with 64 gig ram and 3 TB  storage, mini PC with final rendering done on normal sized desktop using an AMD Ryzen Threadipper 1950X CPU, Corsair Hydro H100i CPU cooler, 3XS EVGA GTX 1080i SC with 11g Ram, 4 X 16gig Corsair DDR4 Ram and a Corsair RM 100 PSU .   The desktop is in a remote location with rendering done via Queue Manager which gives me a clearer desktop and quieter computer room.