Is houdini a system hog? Maya is great but is quite the system hog. So far out of many apps that i have tried, 3ds max 8 is the best and easiest to learn and not only that but it is easyon the good ol' CPU. How does the houdini work flow compare, and does it hog up your resources like maya?

PS- i tried the beta but it kept crashing.

(1) use Houdini on Linux (as Maya). This is a primary enviroment it was designed for and used on. Most of crashes and memory problems will disapear forever.
(2) Houdini is used by BIG companies, in BIG movies, for BIG scenes with BIG simulations and somehow it manages it well. So, as your question isn't completly unsual it miss the point! As long as a software gives you what it's expected it IS optimized. If you just can't do something because software says “this is too big for me” you're in trouble.
(3) as to facts: Houdini is not a deamon of interactivity. It is much more difficult to work on high-poly models then in Maya or XSI. Yet it gives you plenty of possibilities to work on highly complicated scenes, models etc. without “deepblue” behind you.
(4) is Houdini system hog? No, it works fine in normal circumstances but it can be if you want him to be…

(5) as to workflow: it's absolutely different then anything else. If you just start your 3d voyages you must answer your self what you want to do mainly. There are number of threads here comparing Houdini with others and I'm sure you find one, the right for you. Finally, after fining out something more about you&3d application, if you still won't see differences between Houdini and others, stay with MAX. That's most reasonable thing you can do. If you see THE difference you won't have any doubts what to choose.