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

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?