Never. Just like any other artistic disipline, it takes skill and craftsmanship.

Ask how long it takes before you could oil paint a picture to look perfectly real.

Ask how long it would take to sculpt so your sculpture looks perfectly real.

Ask how long it would take to draw, and have it look like a real black and white photo.

It rerally has nothing to do with hardware or software.. I saw poser images 3 years ago that looked almost like photos to me.

Perfect renders are a combination of all those things you mentioned pros to.. specific lighting, textures, ect.

Heck, look at all the plant products for carrera 7.. I have a VERY hard time distinguishing them from real life photos!

Its not the tools.. it's the artist behind the tools...

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.