Folks Poser 12, helps cut down on the time factor and the graininess that is inherent to SF. The have a post fx option that denoises the image and gets rid of the graininess, they've also improved the rendering speed.

Also, if the Cycles root confuses or scares you, try using the physical surface root, it's more like the poser root node, though easier to use as it does most of the work for you. Take a look at my store for decent SF renders. All the SF renders were done in P12. The longest render times was for Spring Fling, and it was still faster than some of my older FF renders.

Sunfire's Creations