My rig is an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0 GHz) with 2GB DDR2 (PC3200, I think) and a GeForce 7950GT 512 MB running Windows 7 64-bit (not retail yet, still the RC), and I'm running it pretty decently at 1600x1200. Sure, the rest of the graphics settings has to be set pretty low, but not necessarily at the very bottom, I could raise everything to high, but I doubt the frame rates would agree as I travel into more open lands than the mage tower (and it's stuttering a bit even then). Considering the setup wanted to set the resolution to 800x600, I think I'm pretty well off.

Picked up my CE of DAO today, just about to get it installed.
Also received Win7, but I'm gonna let that sit for a while cos of a couple of possible driver issues (with my soundcard being the big one).
The CE box isn't as flash as those pretty much anywhere else in the world. I got a plastic box with card sleeve, the only benefits are the bonus stuff really.
I'll be back later on to tell you all how I'm getting on...

Thanks for the info so far. One more question: how's the tone of the game? Dark, I'm sure, but Bioware keeps describing it as a mature game for mature gamers. Is it actually mature, or just M-rated?

the tone? it depends on how you play it , I think. I've been playing and so far it's been really nice, fairly light.

Hey Weclock, which origin are you playing? I looked at the BioWare video for the Dwarf Commoner and just went "NO"... I have a strong distaste for arena combats. Do you get something different if you start as Dwarf Commoner Rogue? Cause arena combat seems pretty suicidal for a low-level rogue, this wouldn't seem to be a good design choice on Bioware's part.

I don't know about hat origin specifically, but there's an arena combat with the Dwarf Noble origin, but I think it's totally optional. Could be the same for the Commoner. Even if it isn't, I doubt it's something that's going to be too hard for your class or something that will take a lot of time. But I have a feeling it's probably an optional combat.

I decided to do something very uncharacteristic of me.
Typically when I play RPGs I just play as the meat head, because it's usually just about gameplay, but I decided I'd challenge myself and be a mage.
I'm a human mage.
http://social.bioware.com/playerprofile.php?char_id=73502&display=character&nid=2282464125&game=dragonage
Anyway, despite some parts being fairly dark, it's been fairly light otherwise. Very fun atmosphere for me. There was a part where I went to this old abandanoned temple on a mountain and even though the areas were dark, the tone was fairly light for the most part. There were some challenges where I had to answer riddles and they were kind of dark, but for the most part it was fine. :D

Sweet, i'm running nearly the same except with an 8800gs, so i should be about par and able to run on low settings. my rig was able to run mass effect decently well, so I was hoping this one wouldn't be an issue.
I REALLY need to upgrade at some point, when I actually have some spare cash that's not sucked up by going to school part time or supprting the wife in full time school... yaaaay education.

"Mature" in this case is one of those words that people define differently. So far I've enjoyed the world, the story, and the gameplay. Bodies spew great fountains of blood, which some would call mature but I find sophomoric. I turned off the "persistent gore" option because it applied blood over the entire character rather than only on the places facing the enemy's arterial aerosol. They also looked like they had measles when covered with red dots.
The game is more mature to me in a number of ways. Dialogue choices are more nuanced than the "For the good of all!" or " I hate you" dichotomy that plagues some games. Characters are believable with good voice acting.
So I reckon the game is both mature and "mature." Whether that will bother you depends on how much of each you prefer and can tolerate.

Thanks. I don't object to graphic violence or sexual content, but games that market themselves as "all grown up now" are often not so much adult-oriented as just cartoonishly lurid (not that I don't get a kick out of that stuff too sometimes, but it's probably not very mature of me :p). If Bioware has made an effort to create something detailed, thoughtful and reasonably intelligent, as opposed to merely bloody, that's good enough for me.

Yeah, I need to upgrade as well, but I just bought a new laptop so the big box will have to wait until I have more spare cash. It's a strange feeling, so far it's been pretty clear which machine is the main one, but now the laptop and big'un are fairly even (laptop has faster CPU, memory, and graphics [slightly]; desktop has more graphics memory, faster and bigger disks, and two screens).
Also, my CPU is a socket 939 (I think), not an AM2, so you may have an advantage in bus speeds if yours is the latter.
Oh, yeah, wait... PC3200 is DDR1, not 2. I always forget it's really that old.

I have been playing as a Human Noble Warrior, and so far the tone seems very similar to the A Song of Ice and Fire books. It is definitely darker than most of the traditional Tolkein/Forgotten Realms fantasy, but it still has almost all of the same tropes (and same need to convince a very specific part of the reader/player's anatomy that this is a good item).
Another way to think of it is with the Bond movies. I will stick with Pierce Brosnan (the only Bond to also be a Bond Girl...) and Daniel Craig (he is so dreamy...), since Connery defines his era. Brosnan-Bond was very light hearted, and he never really had anything bad happen to him (they tortured him with swirlies! :p). Craig-Bond was a much darker character (they tried to smash his jimmies...), but he still drank martinis and fornicated with every woman he found.
Same with this, it is definitely a bit darker, but it is still light-hearted fantasy. At least, up to the point I am at. It could go off the deep-end and have the proverbial Captain Mal gouge out Xander's eyeball or something.

* Spoilers Follow. *
So... for anyone who's done at least some of the stuff in Redcliffe already...
Having to get the demon out of that kid was kind of... well, not exactly a happy thing. I ended up going with the plan to sacrifice the child's mother to power a ritual which would allow Morrigan to go into the Fade to assault the demon that had possessed the child. That's... normally not something they let you do in a lot of RPGs, and I was a little surprised that they let you pick such a ruthless option.
Granted, my character viewed it as the most -practical- option, too, but even so...

I have to say, I'm enjoying it a lot.
Played for about six hours straight, started wondering why I was feeling so hungry...
I'm playing as an Elf mage, which works out well for me, except it does the rather stupid NWN2 thing of putting you at the head of the party (so that post-conversation battles you're in the thick of it).
I have a slight problem with the characters though, I just don't care about any of them. Alisdair is good enough to have around, but the other two I've picked up so far I could take or leave.
I found the mouse controls a bit of a chore to start with also, getting used to what requires right clicks (movement, area-effect spells), and what requires left click. Not sure why they couldn't use a single click interface to be honest.
I've ended up using the chase camera, it tends to work best (i.e. the game was designed for it), and the overhead is only really useful when you're in a fight with lots of mobs.
Basically, I have lots of minor issues with it, but the game is great in general. It's not as good (in my eyes) to the BG trilogy, but it comes a lot closer than biowares recent other efforts.
On a side note:
I read a review that said the dwarf/rogue path has a near impossible part near the start if you're playing on a harder difficulty. Perhaps you do get the arena then?