Mass Effect 3 system requirements released, render Reaper invasion on 2GB RAM

Mass Effect 3

I was driving around in the first Mass Effect just last night and was reminded that a) the Mako is the bounciest vehicle in the universe and b) Mass Effect 2 actually looks a lot better than Mass Effect. Based on the screenshots and trailers released so far, it looks like we can expect a similar visual leap for the grand finale, which promises more than a few enormous set pieces.

But will your PC run it? The full system requirements have popped up on the Bioware forums . We slipped the Shadow Broker a few credits and he sent them over stapled to the forehead of a courier Volus. Here they are.

Minimum Spec:

  • OS - Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7

  • CPU - 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)

  • RAM - 1GB for XP / 2GB RAM for Vista/Win 7

  • Disc Drive - 1x speed

  • Hard Drive - 15 GB of free space

  • Video - 256 MB* (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support)

  • Sound - DirectX 9.0c compatible

  • DirectX - DirectX 9.0c August 2009 (included)

Recommended Spec:

  • OS - Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7

  • CPU - 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)

  • RAM - 2GB for XP / 4GB RAM for Vista/Win 7

  • Disc Drive - 1x speed

  • Hard Drive - 15 GB of free space

  • Video - AMD/ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB or greater, NVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512 MB or greater

  • Sound - DirectX 9.0c compatible

And here's a list of supported graphics cards: "Supported chipsets: NVIDIA 7900 or better; ATI X1800 or better. Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 9300, 8500, 8400, and 8300 are below minimum system requirements, as are AMD/ATI Radeon HD3200, HD3300, and HD4350."

I was talking to our Chris Thursten last night about possible superweapons that could be used to defeat the Reaper menace. He suggested using a Mass Effect relay to shoot the Mako through the heart of the Reaper mothership (if such a thing exists), turning it into a massive, bouncy bullet. That could be quite awesome. How would you defeat the Reapers?

Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.