Do I have the umph?
 

I realize you all must see tons of these. I really want to buy IL2 but only if I can run it. Can I run with my computer below? Upgrades necessary?

ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz
SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC6400
integrated sound card

usually run 1680x1050 or 1920x1080
on surround sound

Depends on what you mean by run, will it boot up sure but what kind of fps you get with the min spec machine will vary. Will you enjoy the frame rate is another story.

Upgrades?

fast quad core(i7 2500k)+GTX 560TI W/2GBvram+8GB ram+win7 is a good base line.

Wait for patch, test with your current setup. If not good then, consider upgrading. Most important though, don't do any upgrades before the next patch, only then will you know if it's needed. Some people here buy monster rigs in the false belief that brute force will do the game justice, still it will slow down from certain effects and such. The developers are not re-writing the whole graphics engine just for the fun of it. You will be able to run it with your current setup so go ahead and buy it, it can only get better.:)

had a similiar system, except have a GF 560Ti and switched to a Q6600 for free, game is stable for me, on ATAG Server i have around 40fps over land and 55+ fps over water.... runs fine and smooth for me, launcher.exe crash very rare for me (mostly online and 2 or 3 time per week).... and i fly at least 4 to 6 hours per day

and with upcoming patch, it should run much better (hopefully)

My specs are in my sig, and I have the same experience as II./JG27_Winter. Before I got the 285 GTX I was playing on a 4850 1Gb and it was perfectly playable with some settings turned down.