@Danio:
I didn't disable SMT until this day. So not sure if it will improve things. It doesn't for most things, but maybe 3dsMax/Corona is different.. worth giving a shot.
Also, I never experienced any such issue you mention though. I have no glitches of any sort.
@Basshunter:
Yes, strong single-core performance machine makes better workstation even if the multi-threaded performance is just fractional, at least that is now my current position.