That's all accurate. That particular Intel video chip was released before the relatively recent improvements seen in the HD 4000 and its successrs, but even the 4000 doesn't work in ME-1.
You haven't mentioned the first game, ME-1, but I happened to have a window in my text edit program open to those requirements:
Minimum System Requirements for Mass Effect on the PC
(Corrected from dumb, Pie in the Sky lies to the real thing)
Operating System:
Windows XP or Vista
(NOTE: Windows7 is *not* compatible without the patch)
Processor:
2.4+GHZ Intel or 2.0+GHZ AMD (P4 & A64)
Memory:
1 Gigabyte Ram (XP)
2 Gigabyte Ram (Vista)
Video [b][i]Card[/b]:[/i]
NVIDIA GeForce 6 series (6800GT or better: G.205, 210, 310, 520, 7100, 7200, 7300, 7400, 7500, 7600 GS, 8200, 8300, 8400 GS, 8500, 9100, 9200, & 9300 are below minimum system requirements)
ATI Radeon X1650 XT or better (X1050, X1300, X1300 Pro, *X1550*, HD 2400, HD 3100, HD 3200, HD 3450, HD 3470, HD 4200, HD 4250, HD 4270, HD 4350, HD 4550, and ("[u][b]probably[/b][/u]") HD 5450 are below minimum system requirements) no video device with Intel's name on it is supported in any way, shape, or form.
The Pentium Dual is about the same processing power as the P4 named for ME-1, maybe slightly less, depending on the model (different cache arrangements were the main weakness comparing that model CPU to the full-power C2D processor). The requirement might have been slightly understated for marketing reasons.
Both used the same UT3 game engine, however ME-2 demanded a better CPU and more RAM:
ME2
PC MINIMUM System Requirements
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
Recommended System Requirements for Mass Effect 1 on the PC
Operating System:
Windows XP or Vista
Processor:
2.8+GHZ Intel or 2.4+GHZ AMD
Memory:
2 Gigabyte Ram
