Got me a new processor, not a top of the line by any means - an Intel Quad Core 6600 for around £140 and it flys (relative to my old Athlon FX60) at Poser renders - this rendered in Firefly in Poser 7 at final settings in 45 seconds (Windows Vista SP1) Not a particularly taxing scene, but animation is at last a real dream :-))

Full system now - Asus K5 with Quad Core 6600 - 4GB DDR II 800 RAM, Radeon HD3850 , WIndows VIsta SP1.

Well, it may not be top-of-the-line, but it's twice what I have, so I'm suitably envious.

Feels good doesn't it.
Now you have to install all those programs you use  and set up all those preferences.
But it's worth it.
Congratulations!

i still have my old trusty P4 2.4ghz (6years old) and it still does me fine, but due to a heat sink comming unglued and a memory stick giving up (all now fixed,and replaced)im now thinking on a Q6600 and P7Pro as im thinking it will be at least 6 to 8 times faster at rendering (4 cores doing 4 times as fast and 64bit doubling that) or am i wrong???? i will find this out soon as im saving up before this 'puter blows something vital

oh and never have a heat sink come unglued (not the processor one) as its not easy finding something that will glue and have good thermal properties.....

Quote - it will be at least 6 to 8 times faster at rendering (4 cores doing 4 times as fast and 64bit doubling that) or am i wrong????

A 64 bit OS isn't any faster than a 32 bit OS it just allows to render bigger scenes (when using PoserPro). With a 64 bit OS it does help to have enough RAM (prefer 8 Gb). A big and relatively fast hard disk helps. Add a reasonable graphics card (always check for proper Open/GL drivers for the 64 bit OS).
That will get you to at least 6 times faster rendering and probably about 2 times faster in other things. I do assume you will be getting Vista, make sure you set it up properly as too much added eye candy can eat away a lot of this gain in power without actually adding any functionality.

Vista 64 can be an acceptable OS but Microsoft has hidden it very well.

I saw a huge performance increase in rendering in P7 in Vista 32 bit from an AMDFX60 (dual core) to the Quad Core 6600 so I am sure that you will be more than happy with the rendering performance increase that you would see :-))

Quote - A 64 bit OS isn't any faster than a 32 bit OS

But the hardware is more capable in terms of moving data around -- potentially -- with applications that know how to take full advantage of it, but not Poser -- unless you're talking Poser 7 Pro ... which has "issues" ...

Quote - I do assume you will be getting Vista, make sure you set it up properly as too much added eye candy can eat away a lot of this gain in power without actually adding any functionality.

Absolutely. Many services are active by default that you probably won't need, and then there's the Sidebar and DreamScene ... ugh!