What are the MW3 system requirements? There’s no hiding how much better the modern Call of Duty games look as years pass by, but is this increase in graphical fidelity becoming a strain on the requirements needed to run the game even on the lowest settings?
The MW3 release date is right around the corner and it could debut as one of the best shooters on PC, but we’re faced with some confusing system requirements that muddy that waters right before beta.
The MW3 minimum specs paint a mixed picture. Granted, these are the beta requirements but they shouldn’t change too much between now and the MW3 release date.
You’ll need either an Intel Core i5 6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 alongside an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, or an AMD Radeon RX 480. These are all low-end specs that are easily achieved by most modern builds. Where things get strange is the 12GB RAM requirement. Usually for minimum specs, we’d expect this to sit at 8GB max.
| Minimum Specs | Recommended Specs | |
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit |
| CPU | Intel Core i5 6600 AMD Ryzen 5 1600 |
Intel Core i5 6600 AMD Ryzen 5 1600 |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce 970 or 1650 AMD Radeon RX480 |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 AMD Radeon RX Vega |
| RAM | 12GB | 16GB |
| Storage | 65GB SSD + 25GB for HQ Textures | 65GB SSD + 25GB for HQ Textures |
The MW3 recommended specs are unfortunately quite confusing. You can maintain the same CPU as the minimum specs, but you’ll need to realistically upgrade your graphics quite a bit. This gives a bit of a false impression that there isn’t much difference between running the game at minimum settings and what the developer would recommend.
Activision has strangely left the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 as an option when realistically they could have removed this and kept it just as an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 or AMD Radeon RX Vega. The RAM requirement has also been upped here to 16GB which is fully expected.
There are no MW3 ultra specs yet but these could be rolled out just before the PC beta is live or before the full game release date. This is where we expect the biggest jump in required components to be, especially as you’ll want the perfect blend of high performance and visual quality.
When it comes to storage, the MW3 download size is starting big, but we expect it will only grow with time. You’ll need 65GB free on an SSD, but an additional 25GB if you want to download the optional high-quality texture packs. One of the best gaming SSDs is a must for high-spec rigs that want to get the absolute best out of the game.
For more on MW3 as it heads into beta, you can check out a guide to all the MW3 maps. If you’re keen to know what to expect after release, our MW3 season 1 guide has everything you’ll need to know.
Take the MW3 system requirements test over on PCGameBenchmark to answer the question… Can I run MW3?
