For those who love optimizing PC games as much as playing them, Modern Warfare 3 promises more than 500 settings to fiddle with

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is coming on November 10, and Activision has now revealed the full PC system requirements as well as a rundown on PC-specific features and preloading info—because yes, in case there was any doubt, preloading will be available.

November 10 is the full release date, but you can get into the campaign up to a week ahead of that by pre-purchasing the game on Steam or Battle.net. If you do, you can start "campaign early access" preloading at 9 am PT/12 pm ET on November 1—early access to the campaign will begin at 10 am PT/1 pm ET on November 2.

If you opt not to pre-purchase that early, or if you're only into Modern Warfare 3 for the multiplayer and have no interest in the campaign, regular preloading will begin at 9 am PT/12 pm ET on November 8, and the full launch—campaign and multiplayer both—will kick off at 9 pm PT on November 10, or 12 am ET on November 11.

Naturally, there is a map.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launch time map — (Image credit: Activision)

The PC version of Modern Warfare 3 will give players access to more than 500 settings, which quite frankly is a lot more than I have any interest in dicking around with, but we'll take that promised flexibility—that's what PC gaming is about, after all. It will also support DLSS 3 on GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards, and Nvidia's Reflex low-latency technology, which promises to reduce latency and deliver smoother and more responsive gameplay. (That's not exactly new—Warzone and the Modern Warfare reboot both incorporated Reflex tech back in 2020.)

As for what you'll need to play it, here are the full PC system requirements:

Minimum

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

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update)†
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
RAM: 16 GB
Hi-Rez Assets Cache: Up to 32 GB
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti / RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600XT
Video Memory: 8 GB
Storage: 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 2700X
RAM: 16 GB
Hi-Rez Assets Cache: Up to 64 GB
Video Card: NvidiaGeForce RTX 3080 / RTX 4070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800XT
Video Memory: 10 GB
Storage: SSD with 149GB available space (78GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed)

You can get away with a slightly lower spec if you forgo the campaign and Warzone, and play MW3 multiplayer only. The GPU and RAM requirements remain the same as the minimum requirement, but an Intel Core i3-6100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 will suffice on the GPU side, and you'll also save some drive space: A total of 79GB is required for MW3 multiplayer and Call of Duty HQ, essentially a universal launcher for Call of Duty, which is required for all versions of the game.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Minimum

Recommended

Competitive / Ultra 4K Specifications