In this case the frame rate went from 0.25 fps to 40 fps, a 160x improvement, so "fundamental" it is.

Also, diminishing returns apply: going from 0.25 fps to 40 fps is a game changer when doing interactive modelling, in the sense that only one of the two can be considered interactive. Going 40 fps to 4000 fps wouldn't really be make things much better (I'm sure artists would simply push the tools to bring that frame rate down again, and any improvement to render speed obviously would matter for final exports, but you get what I mean).