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Yes, a PC with a GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 470 can meet Modern Warfare 4’s published minimum for starting the campaign, provided it also has Windows 10 64-bit, 8 GB of RAM, an SSD with 115 GB free, TPM 2.0, and Secure Boot. Activision’s recommended tier moves to 16 GB of RAM and RX 6600 XT/RTX 3060-class graphics. Its 90 FPS statement applies to multiplayer on High settings, not to the campaign.
For high-quality ray tracing at 4K upscaled, Activision lists 32 GB of RAM and an RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT-class GPU. The publisher has not released a campaign-specific FPS table, so any campaign frame-rate result should be treated as independent testing rather than an official guarantee.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Standard Edition - PC | $10.19 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Call of Duty: Game of the Year Edition - PC | $75.98 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PC | $24.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Call of Duty: World at War - PC | $47.53 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Call of Duty: Ghosts - PC | $44.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Modern Warfare 4 PC requirements at a glance
Modern Warfare 4 has three published PC capability tiers. The minimum tier is the entry point for launching the game, the recommended tier is designed around Activision’s multiplayer target of 90 FPS at High settings, and the ray-tracing tier is intended for high-quality ray tracing at 4K upscaled. None of those labels is an official campaign-FPS promise.
| Tier | Operating system | Processor | Memory | Graphics card and VRAM | Storage | Published target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Windows 10 64-bit, latest update | AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or Intel Core i5-6600 | 8 GB RAM | Radeon RX 470, GeForce GTX 970/1060, or Intel Arc A580; 3 GB video memory | 115 GB SSD | Starting the game; campaign FPS is not stated |
| Recommended | Windows 11 64-bit | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i7-8700K | 16 GB RAM | Radeon RX 6600 XT, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (Activision article) or RTX 3060 (Steam listing), or Intel Arc B580; 8 GB video memory | 115 GB SSD | 90 FPS in multiplayer on High settings |
| Ray tracing | Windows 11 64-bit | AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel Core i7-10700K | 32 GB RAM | Radeon RX 9070 XT or GeForce RTX 5070 Ti; 16 GB video memory | 115 GB SSD | High-quality ray tracing at 4K upscaled |
Every tier also requires broadband internet, DirectX 12 compatibility, a DirectX-compatible sound card, an AVX-capable Intel or AMD processor, TPM 2.0, and Secure Boot. Intel Arc cards additionally require Resizable BAR. Activision warns that mandatory updates can require more storage than the 115 GB baseline.
#1 Best Overall
- INTRODUCING A NEW ERA OF BLACK OPS: Call of Duty: Black Ops III takes place in a dark, gritty future where a new breed of Black Ops soldier emerges and the lines are blurred between our own humanity and the cutting-edge military robotics that define the future of combat.
- A CALL OF DUTY CAMPAIGN UNLIKE ANYTHING BEFORE IT: Treyarch elevates the Call of Duty social gaming experience by delivering up to four player campaign co-op, using the same battle-tested network infrastructure and social systems that support its world-class Multiplayer and Zombies game modes.
- PREPARE FOR A LEVELED-UP MULTIPLAYER: With Black Ops III, Treyarch premieres a new momentum-based chained-movement system, allowing players to fluidly move through the environment with finesse, using controlled thrust jumps, slides, and mantling abilities in a multitude of combinations, all while maintaining complete control over your weapon at all times.
- FIGHT THE UNDEAD IN AN ALL-NEW HORROR STORY: No Treyarch title would be complete without its signature Zombies offering - a full-game experience with its own distinct storyline right out of the box. Black Ops III Zombies is the most immersive and ambitious Call of Duty Zombies to date, with a full XP-based progression system for players that adds depth and re-playability to the engaging gameplay Zombies fans have come to expect.
What the requirements mean for the campaign
Minimum hardware is a launch baseline, not a performance guarantee
The minimum specification tells you that the game is expected to start on the listed class of hardware. It does not establish a fixed resolution, quality preset, frame rate, or 1% low for the campaign. Campaign missions can vary substantially: trench warfare in Korea, close-quarters sequences in New York, chases through Paris, SAS night raids in Mumbai, and assaults to reclaim occupied territory can place different demands on the CPU and GPU.
Activision’s published 90 FPS wording is specifically “90 FPS in multiplayer on High graphics settings.” Applying that number to the campaign would overstate what the specification proves. The official material does not include a campaign-by-GPU FPS table.
Recommended hardware is the practical target for most players
A Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i7-8700K, 16 GB of RAM, and RX 6600 XT/RTX 3060-class graphics provide substantially more headroom than the minimum list. This is the sensible starting point for a modern Windows 11 system, but the exact campaign result still depends on resolution, visual settings, driver versions, and the individual mission. The GPU discrepancy is worth noting: Activision’s article names the RTX 3060 Ti, while the Steam listing names the RTX 3060. Treat those as two storefront-published versions of the recommended tier rather than silently replacing one with the other.
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High-quality ray tracing at 4K upscaled is a much more demanding goal than simply running the campaign. Activision pairs that target with 32 GB of system memory and an RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT-class card carrying 16 GB of video memory. A PC that meets the recommended tier can still be unsuitable for this ray-tracing target.
Can a GTX 1060 or RX 470 run the campaign?
Both are explicitly listed in the minimum graphics tier. A GTX 1060 or RX 470 therefore meets the published GPU requirement, assuming the rest of the computer also meets the minimum CPU, 8 GB RAM, SSD, operating-system, and security requirements. The same applies to a GTX 970, which Activision lists alongside the GTX 1060, and to an Intel Arc A580.
Rank #2
- Play as part of a well-trained squad in this first-person, action game
- Delivers the gritty realism and cinematic intensity of WW II's epic battlefield
- Experienced through the eyes of citizen soldiers and unsung heroes
- Authentic squad movements and tactics
- Each soldier's distinct personality and training comes out on the battlefield
Meeting the list means the campaign should be launchable according to the publisher’s capability guidance; it does not promise a particular FPS or visual preset. On this hardware, start with a conservative preset, use a supported upscaler, and measure the result in the game’s built-in benchmark when that benchmark is available. Report any number as a test result for your settings and mission, not as an official campaign guarantee.
How much SSD space does Modern Warfare 4 need?
The published requirement is 115 GB on an SSD for all three tiers. This is free space, not merely the drive’s advertised capacity. Keep additional room available because Activision says mandatory updates may need more storage.
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- Use an SSD rather than a hard disk; the requirement specifically calls for an SSD.
- Check free space on the drive that will contain the installation before downloading.
- Leave headroom beyond 115 GB for updates and temporary installer files.
- If the drive is nearly full, move other games or files before starting the installation instead of relying on the exact minimum.
A 1 TB NVMe SSD gives substantially more working room than a drive with only 115 GB free, but the game’s stated requirement remains 115 GB plus whatever update space the installer requests.
TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and other prerequisites
Check TPM 2.0 in Windows
- Press
Win+R, entertpm.msc, and press Enter. - In the TPM Management window, check that the status says the TPM is ready for use.
- Confirm the specification version is 2.0.
If Windows reports that a compatible TPM cannot be found, the feature may be disabled in firmware or the system may not support the requirement.
Check Secure Boot and UEFI mode
- Press
Win+R, entermsinfo32, and press Enter. - Check Secure Boot State and confirm it is On.
- Check BIOS Mode; a modern UEFI installation is normally required to use Secure Boot.
Firmware labels differ by motherboard. TPM may appear as AMD fTPM or Intel Platform Trust Technology (PTT). Enabling Secure Boot on a legacy-MBR installation can require converting the system disk and should be done only after confirming that Windows is configured for UEFI.
Rank #3
- Epic single-player campaign picks up immediately following the thrilling events from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- The definitive multiplayer experience returns, with a host of new perks and enhancements
- New cooperative SpecOps mode, the perfect combination of Modern Warfare's single player intensity and the addictive replayability of its multiplayer
- Special Ops Mode allows two players, either alone or with a friend, to engage in unique mission play and features split-screen functionality.
- ‘Modern Warfare 2’ contains new and updated weapons, new weapons attachments, and a variant of the multiplayer weapons customization system from ‘Call of Duty 4’, now available in the single player campaign.
Arc-specific requirement
Intel Arc graphics require Resizable BAR in addition to the general requirements. Check the motherboard firmware and graphics-driver information for Re-Size BAR support and enable it before diagnosing an Arc performance or compatibility problem.
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- The processor must support AVX instructions.
- The system must support DirectX 12.
- A DirectX-compatible sound card is required.
- Broadband internet is required, including for the PC versions distributed through Xbox on PC, Battle.net, and Steam.
Choosing hardware for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K
Activision does not publish a separate 1080p or 1440p campaign tier. That means a “1440p GPU requirement” cannot be stated as an official number from the published specifications. The recommended RX 6600 XT, RTX 3060/3060 Ti, or Arc B580 is the closest official performance baseline, but its 1440p campaign frame rate will depend on the selected quality, upscaling mode, and mission.
For 4K with high-quality ray tracing, use the separate ray-tracing tier as the relevant guide: RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT class, 16 GB of video memory, 32 GB of system RAM, and Windows 11. “4K upscaled” is not the same as rendering every pixel natively at 4K; the output resolution is 4K while an upscaler reconstructs the image from a lower internal resolution.
Upscaling and graphics settings
The game supports AMD FSR Redstone, NVIDIA DLSS 4.5, Intel XeSS 3, and Filmic SMAA T2X. Select the technology that matches your GPU when available, then compare image quality and frame-time consistency at the resolution you actually use.
A practical order for tuning
- Run the built-in benchmark when the game provides one and record the preset, resolution, upscaler, and ray-tracing state.
- Choose a native output resolution and an upscaling mode before changing individual quality options.
- If performance is below your target, lower ray-tracing options first, then reduce the most GPU-intensive quality settings.
- Keep textures within the available video-memory budget; an 8 GB recommended card and a 16 GB ray-tracing card are not equivalent in texture headroom.
- Repeat the same benchmark or mission route after each major change so the comparisons remain meaningful.
Do not describe a benchmark result as “the campaign FPS” without identifying the mission or test scene. The official sources provide capability tiers, not a universal campaign measurement.
Rank #4
- Set in the Pacific Theater of World War II
- Powered by Call of Duty 4: Modern Wafare technology
- Includes perks, rankings, and stats
- Participate in up-to four-player cooperative gameplay
- New infantry and vehicle-based weapons
Installing and preparing the PC version
Choose a supported storefront
Activision says the PC versions are available through Xbox on PC, Battle.net, and Steam. Storefront availability and unlock clocks can differ. Activision’s article says digital pre-purchases receive campaign early access beginning October 16, 2026, with the full game releasing October 23 at midnight local time. Steam displays October 22, 2026 as its store release date. Use the release time shown by the storefront attached to your purchase rather than assuming every PC launcher unlocks simultaneously.
Before downloading
- Install pending Windows updates, using Windows 10 64-bit at minimum or Windows 11 for the recommended and ray-tracing tiers.
- Update the graphics driver for your AMD, NVIDIA, or Intel card.
- Confirm TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot before troubleshooting the game installer.
- Verify at least 115 GB of SSD space plus update headroom.
- Close applications that consume large amounts of RAM if you are using the 8 GB minimum tier.
Troubleshooting common requirement failures
The installer says the operating system is unsupported
Verify that Windows is 64-bit and fully updated. Windows 10 is the listed minimum; Windows 11 is specified for the recommended and ray-tracing tiers. A 32-bit installation cannot satisfy the published requirement.
TPM or Secure Boot is rejected
Recheck tpm.msc and msinfo32. If either feature is disabled, enter the motherboard’s UEFI firmware and look for TPM, fTPM, PTT, Secure Boot, and UEFI settings. Save changes, boot back into Windows, and verify the status again. If Secure Boot cannot be enabled, check whether the system disk uses legacy MBR mode before changing firmware settings.
The game reports insufficient disk space
Free more than the displayed 115 GB requirement. Updates can need additional temporary space, and a drive that has exactly 115 GB free may still fail during installation or patching.
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Confirm that Resizable BAR is enabled, the motherboard is using a supported UEFI configuration, and the graphics driver is current. Arc’s listed requirement is not satisfied by the GPU alone.
Best Value
- The franchise that has defined a generation of gaming is set to raise the bar once again with the all-new Call of Duty: Ghosts.
- A brand new Call of Duty Universe
- The next generation of multiplayer
- Introduction of a new next-gen engine
Frame rate is lower than expected
First identify which target you are comparing against. The 90 FPS figure belongs to multiplayer on High settings, not the campaign. Record resolution, preset, upscaler, ray tracing, driver version, and mission or benchmark scene, then adjust settings methodically. A minimum-tier PC can launch the game while still falling well below the recommended multiplayer target.
What is known about the campaign itself
The campaign includes trench warfare in Korea, close-quarters combat in New York, chases through Paris, SAS night raids in Mumbai, and operations to reclaim occupied territory. Steam describes playable perspectives including Private Park and Captain Price. Those campaign details explain why a single frame-rate number should not be generalized across every mission.
Activision’s Call of Duty PC article, published September 29, 2026, says: “Modern Warfare 4 runs on most hardware while also seamlessly scaling up to crisp graphics and ultra-smooth, high FPS gameplay on higher-end setups.” The concrete limits remain the three published tiers: minimum for compatibility, recommended for the stated multiplayer High target, and ray tracing for 4K upscaled high-quality RT.
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Bottom-line buying and upgrade decisions
Keep your current PC
Keep it if it meets the minimum CPU, GPU, 8 GB RAM, SSD, Windows, TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, DirectX 12, and AVX requirements and you are comfortable tuning settings without an official campaign-FPS guarantee.
Upgrade memory or storage first
An upgrade to 16 GB RAM aligns with the recommended tier. An SSD with at least 115 GB free is mandatory; extra capacity helps absorb updates and other installed games.
Upgrade the GPU for sustained quality
Move toward RX 6600 XT, RTX 3060/3060 Ti, or Arc B580-class graphics for the recommended tier. Choose RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT-class graphics with 16 GB of VRAM and 32 GB system RAM only when your goal is the ray-tracing tier’s high-quality 4K upscaled presentation.
There is no official campaign benchmark table to turn these specifications into a guaranteed FPS number. Use the published tier that matches your goal, then validate your own campaign settings with the in-game benchmark or repeatable mission testing.
Quick Recap
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