Mjtdevries is correct in saying that Poser is not going to benefit much from Dual Processors.

However, if you like to have multiple applications up and working -- "duallies" are very nice. If you are planning on using Poser with something like Vue D'Esprit (which does use 2 processors) - you have a really powerful system.

Having used Win98SE, Win2000Pro, and WinXP Pro - Personally I have had no problems with XP Pro. XP is the future of Windows and if you are going to upgrade, I think that now is the time to move to XP. Under no circumstances use 98 -- it is not that it is that bad -- it is that Win2000 and WinXP are a lot better . . .

If you have the skills and interests to build up a PC and be your own tech support, that is an excellent and cost effective path. I personally prefer AMD CPUs and some of the chipsets out there are pretty stable - the machine I built up in January has been pretty much trouble free.

Also, Dual Monitors are very nice also. CRT Monitors are dirt cheap now too!

My basic hardware list is below:

Motherboard: Tyan Tiger MP
CPU: Two AMD XP 1700
Memory: 1024 MB DDR ECC RAM (Crucial)
Primary Video Card:
Elsa Synergy 2000 Video Card (Really for Vue and OpenGL Rendering) (AGP)
Secondary Video Card:
3dfx Voodoo 3 (this was just laying around so I used it) (PCI)
Monitors: Two 19inch Samsung SyncMaster 955DFs
Hard Drive: 100 GB 7200 RPM IDE Hard Drive
(Western Digital because it was on sale)
Other stuff: DVD Drive, 24X Cd Burner, SB Live sound card, Antec 1040 Case with 400 watt PS)

Here is a link to some performance tests (running Vue not Poser)
--Note: You may have to be a member of yahoo groups to see this page--
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vuedesprit/database?method=reportRows&tbl=4

Allan Thornton

Allan Thornton