S.T.A.L.K.E.R. performance on mainstream graphics cards

It has been just over four years since we first laid eyes on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. at Comdex in Las Vegas. Back then S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was NVIDIA’s showcase title for the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra launch, it was a tech demo unlike any we’d experienced before: we literally had to pick our jaws up off the floor the game was so groundbreakingly beautiful. Just think, in an era where first-person shooters like Quake 3, No One Lives Forever 2, Unreal Tournament 2003, and Serious Sam 2 were the norm, a game that was the visual equivalent to Far Cry graced the PC screens at the NVIDIA booth, it was easily the most talked about subject among gamers at the show, and it was completely playable.