Proper settings for Mandelbulb 3D to run fastest?

[Chordus]

I recently got myself a decent computer setup...  until now, I was just using Mac laptop to render animations.  It's a horrible choice, and I am fully aware of how ashamed I should be, but it's what I had at the time.

I now have a PC decked out with the best graphics and cpu I can manage without breaking the bank entirely.  For all intents and purposes, it should be able to handle Mandelbulb 3D far faster, but I'm only getting a 20% increase in speed.  My assumption is that I'm doing something wrong.  I've tried to find info on how to increase performance, but I seem to be coming up short.  Does anybody have any hints on how I might be able to speed up rendering?

For the record, my skills in both hardware and software are somewhat lacking.  Pretend you're talking to an awesome dude who hasn't even tried the obvious fixes, because that's probably pretty close to the truth.