I just put together a new system (mainly for video editing but I always keep Carrara in mind). Anyway, I went with a P4 3.0GHz, 1GB of dual-channel memory, 2 Western Digital SATA hard drives (160GB and 250GB), Plextor 12X DVD burner and a 128MB ATI 9600XT video card. I have been very haapy with the render times compared to my previous PC (a PII-350). If I get a chance this weekend, I'll post some render times from the included sample Carrara files. Maybe some other people can do the same for comparison.