Slow High Res Renderings

[rberriz]

Our office has had problems running high resolution images. My settings are typically 1100x1700 (4 Samples) this typically takes ~6 hours. I have currently been running a raytrace in the background for 4.5 days 2550x3300 (16 Samples) This rendering is from the perspective of the inside a glass enclosure looking into a bathroom with lots of glass in it. I know glass takes longer to render than normal surfaces but this is too long for normal workflow.

Computuer Specs
16384mb ram
Core i7-2600k @3.4ghz
Nvidia GeForce GTX-580 4096mb
512gb SSD
Ability to Run SLI

My question is what should I change to get a high res image, like the one that has currently been running for 4.5 days. to finish in 6 hours.
Should I run a workstation card like a firepro or a quaddro? More ram better cpu? All of the above?
I really just need to know which would have the biggest impact.

Thanks in Advance

[johnnyprc]

Rendering times are primarily based upon the processor. Here are my suggestions:

You can (a) get a faster, or even dual/quad processor, (b) set a dedicated computer for rendering with fast processor(s), or (c) use a render cloud that has multi-processor systems that render images and you can instantly download from web.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ianMNs12ITc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbvgYt3q3FQ

This is Pixar's new service - http://renderman.pixar.com/view/renderman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oekX-U5OsWY

[gawdzira]

How many lights are in the scene and in the plan. Turn off the lights you are not seeing. Max of 7 lights or your render is going to bog down (as you are describing). Usually you can get the affect of the rooms needed lights by having 7 in use.

[rberriz]

Is it possible to use a render cloud with chief architect?

[Chiefer]

What's your version?

X5 won't raytrace that long to have a good result.

[David J. Potter]

I agree with Jintu in that your render times are fantastically long, unless you are using X1-X4, X5 is by default many times faster than earlier versions in that department.
The other suggestions you have been offered are good and will help (fewer lights per view, better hardware etc) but having X5 over anything earlier is the most important factor.

DJP