Starting today, you can check out and see if your computer is ready to run the upcoming Mass Effect 2, the highly anticipated sequel: we have the recommended and minimum system requirements, as posted by BioWare themselves, as well as some great news regarding the DRM: there will be very few of it – just a basic disk check. Awesome!

“The boxed/retail PC version of Mass Effect 2 will use only a basic disk check and it will not require online authentication,” said BioWare’s community director Chris Priestly. “This is the same method as Dragon Age: Origins. Digital versions will use the retailer’s protection system.”

Now back to the system requirements for Mass Effect 2. Here are the minimum specifications:

OS = Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
Processor = 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU
Memory = 1 GB RAM for Windows XP / 2 GB RAM for Windows Vista and Windows 7
Hard Drive = 15 GB
DVD ROM = 1x Speed
Sound Card = DirectX 9.0c compatible
Direct X = DirectX 9.0c August 2008 (included)
Input = Keyboard / Mouse
Video Card = 256 MB (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support). Supported Chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or greater; ATI Radeon X1600 Pro or greater. Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400, and 9300; ATI Radeon HD3200, and HD4350 are below minimum system requirements. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.

And the recommended system requirements for Mass Effect 2:

Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
2.6+ GHz Cure 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, or better recommended
100% DirectX compatible sound card and drivers
DirectX August 2008
NOTES: For the best results, make sure you have the latest drivers for your video and audio cards. Laptop or mobile versions of the above supported video cards have not had extensive testing and may have driver or other performance issues. As such, they are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.

Not bad, not bad at all!

Tags: Bioware, Mainstream, Mass Effect 2, RPG, System Requirements