So I just got STALKER and I am confused..

[soulslicer]

Alright, I have heard the hype about this game, the problems it gives and everything else, but there are 2 issues I would like to clarify.

1: How would it run on my system. Ex. Can I enable HDR?

7800Gs 256mb
1gbram
xp
2.8ghz with ht

2. There are loads of mods out there which are suppose to improve system performance and are required. I don't want to spoil the story or game, so which should I get.

 

[RyanG]

Well...

I believe that you can only use HDR if your card supports it. From the table on this page: [link], it looks like your card will run it, although I'm not sure of the performance consequences.
I would suggest playing around with the graphics settings, starting with medium, and see what kind of FPS you can get (there's probably a way to turn on an FPS counter in the game, look it up). I'm bad at making estimates, but if I HAD to I'd say your computer would run it on medium settings OK.
I honestly don't know how much the HDR adds to the experience, I do notice it sometimes, but my computer is good enough that I just turned it on the first time I played and it runs fine with it (i.e. I've never played the game without it).

I don't know about the mods, though, but unless absolutely necessary I would just play the game itself before installing any mods. That's what I'm doing.

edit: If you're buying the Steam version, never leave anything unsaved on your desktop - I've had multiple BSODs and silent crashes while playing... be careful!

 

[Bulletbrain]

Soul give this guide a quick read.

http://www.tweakguides.com/STALKER_1.html

To answer your q's in brief,

1) Yes. As long as you use Object Dynamic lighting or full dynamic lighting HDR is automatically enabled. You might not get playable framerates with full lighting though. But Object lighting is really not all that different. You only lose dynamic shadows cast from trees. And it is mucho faster.

2) AFAIK float 32 is *the* must have mod that will improve performance. But only if you are using full dynamic lighting.

 

[Krynn72]

I have the same video card as you and was playing it on an Athlon 64 2.8 and 2 gigs of ram. Full HDR was barely playable, but i played with it on anyways since it looked awesome. I also didnt float 32, so that may improve it to a better frame rate than i had.