Regarding the original post:

Speed
Lights
Ambient Occlusion
Speed
Shaders / shader tree / multi layer shaders
Terrain creation / modification
Speed
Sky
Modeling Tools
Speed
Ability to adjust mesh / create morphs

Did I mention speed?

Lotus 123 ~ S-Render ~ OS/2 WARP ~ IBM 8088 / 4.77 Mhz ~ Hercules Ultima graphics, Hitachi 10 MB HDD, 64K RAM, 12 in diagonal CRT Monitor (16 colors / 60 Hz refresh rate), 240 Watt PS, Dual 1.44 MB Floppies, 2 button mouse input device.  Beige horizontal case.  I don't display my unit.