Looking to hop into Modern Warfare 3 but not sure if your PC can run it? Here are the minimum and recommended PC specs for Call of Duty MW3!
Call of Duty system requirements get more intensive with every passing year, but just how powerful a PC do you need to run MW3?
PC users might want to check that their rigs are up to the challenge.
MW3 Minimum PC Requirements
These are the expected minimum PC system requirements you’ll need to play MW3:
| OS | Windows 10 (64 Bit) |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 / GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 470 |
| Video Memory | 2 GB |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage Space | 149 GB SSD (78 GB if COD HQ and Warzone already installed) |
| Hi-Rez Assets Cache | Up to 32 GB |
These specs should allow players to run Modern Warfare 3 on its lowest settings. If you’re desperate to play the game, you won’t need too powerful a PC to run it, but don’t expect it to look too great.
If you’re curious as to whether MW3 will run well on your PC, we recommend buying the game on Steam. Valve’s store has a refund policy that lets you check out the game for up to 2 hours before returning it for your money back.
MW3 Recommended PC Requirements
Here are the expected recommended PC system requirements you’ll need to play MW3:
| OS | Windows 10 (64 Bit) or Windows 11 (64 Bit) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti / RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 660XT |
| Video Memory | 8 GB |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage Space | 149 GB SSD (78 GB if COD HQ and Warzone already installed) |
| Hi-Rez Assets Cache | Up to 32 GB |
With these settings, players will be able to run MW3 on much more solid settings. Each PC is different, and those looking to push the game to its limits will need to go even higher with their requirements.
For instance, if you’re hoping to run MW3 at 4K with a high FPS, you’ll need a serious upgrade.
MW3 Max Settings PC Requirements
If you’re looking for 4K resolution, incredibly high frames, and/or you’re using an ultrawide monitor, you’ll need a rig around this spec level:
| OS | Windows 10 (64 Bit) or Windows 11 (64 Bit) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 3080 / RTX 4070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800XT |
| Video Memory | 10 GB |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage Space | 149 GB SSD (78 GB if COD HQ and Warzone already installed) |
| Hi-Rez Assets Cache | Up to 64 GB |
It’s worth noting that Modern Warfare 3 might not require such a powerful PC to run at max, but if you’re pushing the game to its limits, we expect you’ll need quite the extensive spec lineup.
After all, we’ve personally found that Call of Duty games aren’t the most optimized on PC, and they need some extra power to perform well.
Of course, don’t forget to update your graphics drivers on release day too! NVIDIA and AMD will likely put our specific patches to ensure the new games run smoothly on day one.
Does MW3 Require Higher PC Specs Than MW2?
Now that Activision has revealed the official PC system requirements for MW3, we can confirm that yes, Modern Warfare 3 requires marginally higher PC specs than its predecessor.
However, it’s really not that big an upgrade between the two games. From the specs presented, we can see that you’ll need a slightly better CPU for MW3 than MW2, and a graphics card upgrade wouldn’t be unwelcome.
Ultimately, if you can run MW2, you should have little issue running MW3 – but we expect you’ll see a slightly reduced frame rate while doing so.