1. Paul Frances - 3 Points
2. rrmmiss - 2 Points
3. vangogh - 1 Point

Good stuff from everyone!

It depends largely on your budget. 

If you're looking to get the best, a nice Dual Core AMD processor would work beautifully with 3d Applications.  What type and how much ram will depend on what motherboard you're going to get, and, again, how much you're willing to spend.  I've got my "Dream Machine" saved on Newegg - It's not like I'll ever have the money to buy it, but here's what it looks like.

CASE   
Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum/Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Model #: VA8000BWS
    $149.99          
Chose this because it looks nice, has plenty of room, and cools well.  (Keeping your case cool is #1 priority, especially when doing those long renders!)
   
MOTHERBOARD
ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard
Model #: A8N5X
    $78.99          

PROCESSOR
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4400CDBOX
Model #: ADA4400CDBOX
    $460.00          
   
VIDEO CARD   
SAPPHIRE 100106-RD Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Model #: 100106-RD
        $169.00
Not top of the line, but you don't really need a top of the line video card for 3d applications, unless you're doing animation.
   
POWER SUPPLY
Xion PowerReal XON-600F14T-201 ATX12V V.2.01 600W Power Supply
Model #: XON-600F14T-201
    $99.99           
   
Several other things, such as hard drives, DVD burners, etc. 

For ram, I already have 3GB of Corsair XMS Platinum that would just transfer over.

The whole rig, not including peripherals like monitor, keyboard, etc, would end up costing me about $1700.  Keep in mind, these are all just my personal picks, they may not be the best choices for you.  They're also a few weeks old, and you know how that goes in computing.  Just a few ideas.  :)

-DR-

Thanks for the responses guys.  I really appreciate it. 

erosiaart - I actually thought about doing just that with the tree, but decided I'd rather have something that imparts strength and control - more like a guardian.  Those were my thoughts anyway, though I can see both points. 

And thank you both for the opinions and kind words.  I honestly feel better... more confident, that my friend will like the render.

Listen, I'm not trying to lay blame on Daz or anyone else.  Here's the thing, I'm a member of several online forums, and this is the only forum I check that has any virus warnings for this polip.a virus.  I work in IT (not trying to pat myself on the back, just saying), and nobody I work with has ever heard of this thing.  It's not widely distributed, which is shocking considering how easily it spreads.  I'm usually very vigilant about my virus protection, and was very surprized when I got this one.  I stay away from file share and p2p networks as a rule, so I know everything I download is clean.  I don't open unknown attachments... etc etc etc blah blah blah.  You know the drill.

Now the very thing you're complaining about, the fact that this forum is so rife with polip.a warnings... isn't it strange that such a niche population has been stricken with this when it's not considered by the anti-virus developers to be widely distributed?  Look at the other forums HERE.  Are there any that have as many warnings as the POSER forum?  Very odd, at least to me, that there is such a dense amount of users here striken with polip.  There's more info IN THIS FORUM about polip.a then there is if you do a search for it on Google.  Strange.

I'm not trying to point fingers... but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... you know the rest.  It has nothing to do with the fact that it targets poser.  It doesn't.  It targets EVERY .exe file it can find.  Shouldn't there be users all over the internet, for every program, talking about it?  There isn't.  Only here have I seen such an uproar.  Only here.

Think about it.

Actually, not to beat a dead horse or anything, but that 'frivilous' virus caused me to need a reformat.  And, I'm not trying to throw blame at all, but the problem started when I installed a Daz POSER figure.  Seems lots of people are having this problem, so it's fair to warn the community about it. 

If it does have something to do with Daz, and their poser figures, then it is directly related to this program and this forum.  And the fact that you use a Mac instead of a PC is commendable, but perhaps you could just ignore the warnings rather than try to downplay the severity of the problem.

Just thought I'd throw out my .02 on it. 

Thanks for the responses guys, I'll take a close look at that stuff.

I finally figured out what my shadow problem was.  I was using the sun settings incorrectly so the ambient light from the sun prevented my radient light source from casting any real shadows on the scene.