The effect you are looking for can also be faked by using a material, this then cuts down on the geometry. The simple way is to create a bump map or displacement map of even proportions and appply it with the texture and adjust the bump depth and you can get a more dynamic option as it can be changed more easily.
Chris (formerly R@nSiD)
Twitter
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will truely know peace - Jimmy Hendrix
Winner SM VFX Challenge 1
3rd Place SM SteamPunk Challenge (May 2007)