Mass Effect Legendary Edition: The Best PCs to play

Mass Effect Legendary Edition was one of 2021’s most anticipated releases.

All the games in the original Mass Effect trilogy have been beautifully remastered and updated to the current graphical standards. To make the most of the stunning 4K gameplay, you’ll want to ensure your gaming computer is up to the job. In this guide, we have the official specifications, a detailed breakdown, and some of the best PCs and laptops that meet the system requirements.

What is Mass Effect Legendary Edition About?

The Mass Effect trilogy is an epic Sci-Fi adventure that takes place well into the future of human civilisation. Interstellar travel is possible and there are many different advanced alien races to contend with. Players take on the role of Commander Shepard, whose skills and appearance can be fully customised. Shepard plays a vital role in the story, and each decision impacts how the fate of the galaxy unfolds. Gameplay is full of fast-paced action, beautiful scenery, and interactive storytelling in a detailed universe.

The Legendary Edition combines all three games into a single launcher, complete with all the weapons, armour, and DLC. The story and your decisions now carry seamlessly throughout each title, with each one carefully remastered and optimised with stunning 4K graphics. The visual improvements include enhanced models, shaders, textures, lighting, and depth of field. Even the audio has been updated to modern standards. Gameplay has also been improved with better aiming, controls, SFX, AI behaviour, and improved cameras.

As a result, it is a very smooth experience, with additional PC upgrades such as 21:9 support, user interface navigation improvements, and DirectX 11 compatibility.

Is Mass Effect Legendary Edition Available on PC?

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition trilogy was announced during the celebrations of N7 Day on November 7th 2020. Bioware then announced the full release would be on May 14^th 2021. It was made available to play on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. However, you’ll also be able to play PS5 and Xbox Series X with some next-gen enhancements via backwards compatibility.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition Official Specifications

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition runs on Unreal Engine 3 just like the original trilogy of games. This retired engine allows Bioware to maintain the original mechanics and gameplay feel, while still remastering certain aspects. The other benefit of UE3 is that it’s well optimised to run on older hardware, and that is reflected in the system requirements. You won’t be able to play on a GeForce 7900 GTX, like the good old days. However, a reasonably priced gaming PC will still give you a great experience.

The official minimum and recommended requirements are listed below:

	Minimum Requirements	Recommended Requirements
Operating systems	Windows 10 64-bit	Windows 10 64-bit
CPU	Intel Core i5 3570 AMD FX-8350	Intel Core i7-7700 AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
RAM	8GB of memory	16GB of memory
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 AMD Radeon 7970 or R9 280X 2GB of video memory	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 AMD Radeon Vega 56 4GB of video memory
DirectX	Version 11	Version 11
Storage	120GB available space	120GB available space

Mass Effect is a favourite among the Overclockers UK team. We took a closer look at this franchise’s history in honour of NV7 day.

Will My PC Run Mass Effect Legendary Edition?

The minimum specifications show that the Mass Effect Legendary edition will run just fine on older hardware. To take advantage of the remastered graphics and visual upgrades, however, you will want to aim for at least the recommended settings.

Processor, Memory, and Storage:

The minimum specifications show that the Mass Effect Legendary Edition will run just fine on older hardware. However, to take advantage of the remastered graphics and visual upgrades you will want to aim for at least the recommended settings. The processors listed have at least four cores with eight threads and a reasonably high 4GHz+ max clock speed. Despite their age, each one provides great gaming performance. The similar equivalents, if you are looking to buy a PC today, would be the Intel Core i5-12400 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X. As with most recently released games, a minimum of 8GB of RAM is required, with 16GB being the ideal amount for the best performance. The 120GB of free storage required might seem large, but when you consider that this is a trilogy of games it’s reasonable and an SSD will ensure minimal loading times.

Graphics and Display:

NVIDIA’s GTX 1070 might seem like an old card, especially after the launch of the incredible RTX 30 Series and subsequent RTX 40 Series. However, it’s still highly capable, and can play demanding games such as PUBG, GTA V, and The Witcher 3 at 4K and high graphical settings. You can expect it to attain around 30 to 60 FPS, and I have no doubt that it will achieve similar performance in Mass Effect. The same goes for AMD’s Vega 56. However, for some gamers, anything below 60 FPS is a no-go. To ensure the best experience, check out cards like the NVIDIA RTX 4060 or AMD Radeon 7700XT.

Samsung Odyssey G7 3840x2160 IPS 144Hz 1ms FreeSync HDR HDMI 2.1 Widescreen Gaming Monitor

With a powerful graphics card, the sky’s the limit as the Legendary Edition has an uncapped frame rate on PC. Just make sure you have a high-end, high refresh rate monitor that can display a 4K resolution. You might even want to consider a widescreen display for total immersion, as the Mass Effect Legendary Edition comes with ultrawide 21:9 support.

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Best PCs to Play Mass Effect Legendary Edition

If you’re in need of an upgrade to play Mass Effect and all your favourite space adventures, then you’re in the right place. At Overclockers UK, we have an extensive range of gaming PCs and laptops to elevate your gaming to cosmic new heights. You can check out our top picks for Mass Effect Legendary Edition, or explore the full range if they don’t fit your vibes.

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