Minimum, recommended and ray tracing PC specs for Modern Warfare 4, with the TPM 2.0, Secure Boot and SSD requirements people miss.
MW4 PC System Requirements and Settings
Modern Warfare 4 needs a 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC, at least 8 GB of RAM and 115 GB of free space on an SSD to clear the minimum bar. There is a second gate most spec lists skip: TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot must be enabled in your motherboard firmware, or the game will not start at all. The recommended tier targets 90 FPS in multiplayer on High graphics.
- Minimum: Ryzen 5 1400 or Core i5-6600, 8 GB RAM, Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 970 / 1060 or Arc A580, 3 GB VRAM
- Recommended: Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i7-8700K, 16 GB RAM, RX 6600 XT or RTX 3060 Ti or Arc B580, 8 GB VRAM
- Ray tracing at 4K upscaled: Ryzen 7 3700X or Core i7-10700K, 32 GB RAM, RX 9070 XT or RTX 5070 Ti, 16 GB VRAM
- Every tier: 115 GB on an SSD, a DirectX 12 compatible card, and a broadband connection
MW4 PC System Requirements at a Glance
Beenox built the PC version alongside Infinity Ward, and the published sheet has three tiers instead of the usual two. The minimum tier is genuinely old hardware, but the jump from minimum to recommended is where most people land.
| Component | Minimum | Recommended (90 FPS, High) | Ray tracing, 4K upscaled |
|---|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit, latest update | Windows 11 64-bit | Windows 11 64-bit |
| CPU, AMD | Ryzen 5 1400 | Ryzen 5 3600 | Ryzen 7 3700X |
| CPU, Intel | Core i5-6600 | Core i7-8700K | Core i7-10700K |
| RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| GPU, AMD | Radeon RX 470 | Radeon RX 6600 XT | Radeon RX 9070 XT |
| GPU, NVIDIA | GTX 970 or GTX 1060 | RTX 3060 Ti | RTX 5070 Ti |
| GPU, Intel | Arc A580 | Arc B580 | Not listed |
| Video memory | 3 GB | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Storage | 115 GB, SSD required | 115 GB, SSD required | 115 GB, SSD required |
Official source: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 PC Trailer, Tech Updates, and More
Two footnotes matter here. Activision says the specs are valid for launch and may be updated later, and that mandatory game updates can push storage use above the listed 115 GB. Ray tracing also runs in Campaign, Multiplayer and DMZ, so the top tier is not a campaign-only luxury.
TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot Are Mandatory
The PC blog is blunt about it: TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are required to play, and other security measures may be enforced on top. This is not a storefront preference, it is wired into RICOCHET Anti-Cheat as a hardware-based protection layer, so a machine that fails the check does not launch at all.
If you built your PC yourself, the firmware almost certainly has TPM switched off by default. Turn it on before launch day (it is usually listed under Security or Advanced, or as AMD fTPM and Intel PTT), enable Secure Boot, and boot into Windows once to confirm. Fixing this on launch night costs you the queue, not just a menu toggle.
On Intel Arc cards there is one more hardware requirement: Resizable BAR must be enabled. Activision also notes that only Intel and AMD processors with the AVX instruction set are supported at this time, which rules out some very old CPUs that technically meet the clock speeds. The vendor's own wording, including how to check whether your system qualifies, lives on the support site.
Official source: Activision Support: TPM requirements for Call of Duty
You can buy the game before you fix your BIOS, though. The requirement is checked when you launch the game, not when you pre-order, so a crooked TPM setting is not a reason to sit out the early access window covered in our MW4 preload and unlock times breakdown.
Storage: 115 GB on an SSD, Not a Hard Drive
115 GB plus an SSD is the one line that repeats in all three tiers, and it is a hard floor rather than a suggestion. The published requirement says SSD required, so a mechanical drive is not a supported configuration even if the space is free. Steam and Battle.net will happily install to an HDD and then leave you with texture streaming problems that look like a GPU fault.
What nobody has published yet is a per-platform download size. Activision gives the 115 GB storage requirement on PC and stops there, and the console package sizes circulating online are third-party estimates, not official numbers. Check the live install figure on the Steam store page the day the preload opens, because the compressed download and the installed footprint are never the same number.
If you are tight on space, remember the early access build lands first. Campaign Early Access begins October 16 and DMZ Early Access begins October 20 for digital pre-orders, and both run off the same install. Anyone still deciding between the editions should read the MW4 editions and pre-order bonus comparison first, since the Vault Edition adds a DMZ slot and a season of BlackCell rather than more disk space.
Recommended Drivers and Advanced Shader Delivery
Install a current GPU driver before you launch. The published list is AMD 26.7.1, NVIDIA 616.56 and Intel 32.0.101.8974, and Activision states that an ASD-compatible NVIDIA driver would be released before launch, so the number to check is whatever NVIDIA posts closest to October 23. A stale driver is the most common cause of shader stutter complaints in the first week of any Call of Duty release.
Advanced Shader Delivery is the newer piece. Precompiled shaders are delivered ahead of time instead of being compiled on your machine during the first couple of matches, so the game boots into a playable state faster. Getting the benefit means installing the XBOX PC app on any PC platform, since that app is the delivery pipe. There is more on the download side in our MW4 preload guide.
Updates no longer force a restart when you launch the game after a patch. A restart can still happen when an update goes live while you are in-game, which Activision says occurs between matches rather than mid-round.
PC-Only FOV, VFX Masking and Depth of Field
These three are the settings worth touching first, because they change what you can see rather than how pretty the frame is.
Enhanced FOV is PC only. It uses lens-style distortion so the edges of your monitor show more of the world while the center of your view keeps its normal size. You get the awareness of a wide field of view without shrinking distant targets into specks, which is the usual trade-off when you drag the FOV slider up. Console players do not get this option.
VFX Masking addresses muzzle smoke directly at the point of aim. Weapon effects are dynamically masked around your crosshair, so firing does not blind you at the exact moment you need to see. Muzzle flash keeps its intensity everywhere else on screen.
Depth of Field is now split into World Depth of Field and Weapon Depth of Field, so you can keep a sharpened world while still getting the realistic focus pull when you aim. Weapon bloom is also gone: bullets follow the barrel position instead of landing randomly inside a cone, which makes ADS and hipfire read more predictably. A laser attachment shows you where those shots travel.
The rest is standard PC plumbing: HDR10+ that tracks your display brightness, a global sharpness slider that works with any upscaler, and upscaling support for DLSS 4.5, FSR Redstone, XeSS 3 and Filmic SMAA T2X. The Benchmark Tool runs a simulated multiplayer sequence and reports FPS, CPU and GPU load, ping and input latency, so run it before you buy hardware.
FAQ
Does MW4 really require TPM 2.0 on PC?
Yes. TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are listed as requirements to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on PC, and the game will not launch without them. They feed into RICOCHET Anti-Cheat as hardware-based protections, so there is no workaround short of enabling them in your motherboard firmware.
Can I install MW4 on an HDD if I have the space?
No. Every tier, minimum included, lists 115 GB with SSD required. A mechanical drive is unsupported, and in practice you get long texture loads and streaming hitches rather than a clean error, which makes it look like something else is broken.
Will an RTX 3060 Ti hit 90 FPS in MW4 multiplayer?
That is exactly what the RTX 3060 Ti is listed for. The recommended tier is specified to run 90 FPS in multiplayer on High graphics settings with a Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i7-8700K and 16 GB of RAM. Those parts are matched as a set, so pairing the card with a weaker CPU or 8 GB of RAM is a different machine than the one Activision measured.
Is Enhanced FOV available on consoles?
No. Enhanced FOV is exclusive to PC. Consoles get the other visibility improvements, such as sharper shading and the upscaling options, but not the lens-based edge widening that keeps center targets the same size.
How big is the MW4 download on Steam or Battle.net?
Nobody outside Activision knows yet. The only published number is the 115 GB SSD storage requirement for PC, plus a note that updates may need extra room, and no per-platform download figure. Third-party trackers are estimates. Check the live size on the store page when the PC preload opens.
Related Guides
- MW4 Preload Times and Download Size When the PC preload opens, when the game unlocks, and how the 115 GB figure actually behaves.
- MW4 Release Date and Price The launch date in local time plus regional pricing notes before you buy.
- MW4 Editions and Pre-Order Bonus What the Vault Edition adds over Standard, including a DMZ Active Duty slot and BlackCell.
- MW4 Game Pass, Crossplay and Platforms Why the game is standalone at launch and how the Switch 2 version fits in.
More Modern Warfare 4 Guides
The Modern Warfare story so far - Urzikstan, Task Force 141, Shepherd's betrayal and Makarov - recapped before you start MW4.
Operators and Killstreaks are now part of every loadout. How to build a Modern Warfare 4 class slot by slot, and what changed.
How DMZ works in Modern Warfare 4: deploying into Hajin, what to loot first, how the threat system escalates and making your first extraction.
Printer resources, ingredients and recipes in MW4 DMZ, the known first recipes with their exact costs, and what each FOB upgrade does.
DMZ early access opens October 20 for digital pre-orders. What you can do in the three days before launch and what carries into the full game.
Every Forward Operating Base station in MW4 DMZ, the level each one unlocks at, and how the Stash, Gunsmith and Vendor actually work.
Every Hajin point of interest in the Modern Warfare 4 DMZ map, with the expected threat level and the loot each type of building holds.
How to hunt Lieutenants and Commanders in MW4 DMZ, what Boss Board intel costs, and why picking up Dog Tags broadcasts your position.