With CActiveRecord I can call the count() method with a criteria applied and set the CPagination itemCount property before calling findAll(). Thus CLinkPager can display the appropriate number of page links.
On the other hand, if I use a RAR query there isn't a count() method in CActiveFinder. My current workaround is to call findAll() twice, populating the CPagination instance $page before the second call. Maybe CActiveFinder should have a count() as well?