Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 PC System Requirements, Campaign Early Access, and Launch Times

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Activision has confirmed a number of details on the PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, including system requirements.

Modern Warfare 3 on PC requires an SSD with a whopping 149GB of available space for the initial download (78GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed). Content can then be uninstalled to access COD HQ and multiplayer only, Activision said in a blog post.

Let’s start with the official PC system requirements:

Minimum

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update)CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400RAM: 8GBHi-Rez Assets Cache: Up to 32GBVideo Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 / GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 470Video Memory: 2GBStorage: SSD with 149GB available space (78GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed)

Recommended

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update)CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600XRAM: 16GBHi-Rez Assets Cache: Up to 32GBVideo Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti / RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600XTVideo Memory: 8GBStorage: SSD with 149GB available space (78GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed)

Competitive / Ultra 4K Specifications

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update)CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700XRAM: 16GBHi-Rez Assets Cache: Up to 64GBVideo Card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 / RTX 4070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800XTVideo Memory: 10GBStorage: SSD with 149GB available space (78GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed)

Required for all specs:

Network: Broadband Internet connectionSound Card: DirectX compatible

Recommended Drivers for Nvidia/AMD

Nvidia: 537.58AMD: 23.10.2

Meanwhile, the PC version supports Nvidia’s DLSS 3, the AI-powered graphics tech that improves image quality and responsiveness. DLSS 3 adds frame generation for GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs to create additional high quality frames and integrates Nvidia Reflex low-latency technology for optimal responsiveness.

As for PC preloading, those who buy Modern Warfare 3 digitally on PC can preload the game ahead of launch. Preloading is also available for campaign early access, and on PC begins on November 1 at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern / 4pm UK, with early access itself going live on November 2 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 5pm UK.

Preloading for the game’s official launch, including Multiplayer and Zombies, begins on November 8 at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern / 5pm UK, with the full game going live on November 10 at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern / 5pm UK. Here’s the PC launch map:

Modern Warfare 3 is the first Call of Duty game to launch following Microsoft’s $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard, but don’t expect it to hit Game Pass until 2024. Check out IGN’s Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer review in progress to find out what we thought of the recent open beta.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.