Best MW3 PC settings for FPS, visibility & graphics
ActivisionAlthough running meta weapons and Perks is vital in MW3, you won’t get very far if your PC settings aren’t up to scratch. This includes your audio, mouse and keyboard setup, and graphics settings, which can greatly impact the way the game runs on your rig.
The Season 5 Reloaded update brought a major change to On-Demand Texture Streaming, which caused some graphical issues that have continued into Season 6 for some players. If you’re experiencing problems, make sure to use the best settings possible to make things smoother.
Best Modern Warfare 3 graphics settings
Graphics settings for low-end hardware
Display
- Display Mode: Fullscreen Exclusive
- Display Monitor: Your primary gaming monitor
- Display Adaptor: Your graphics card
- Screen Refresh Rate: Refresh rate of your monitor (e.g. 144)
- Display Resolution: Your monitor’s resolution (e.g. 1090×1080)
- Aspect Ratio: Automatic
- Display Gamma: 2.2 (sRGB)
- Brightness: 55 (adjust for your preference)
- Constrain Mouse to Game Window: Off
- NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: On + Boost
Sustainability
- Eco Mode Preset: Custom
- V-Sync (Gameplay): Off
- V-Sync (Menus): Off
- Custom Frame Rate Limit: Custom
- Gameplay Custom Frame Rate Limit: Your monitor’s refresh rate (e.g. 144)
- Menu Custom Frame Rate Limit: 120
- Out of Focus Custom Frame Rate Limit: 30
- Focused Mode: Off
High Dynamic Range
- High Dynamic Range (HDR): Off
Global Quality
- Quality Presets: Custom
- Render Resolution: 100
- Dynamic Resolution: Off
- Upscaling/Sharpening: FidelityFX CAS
- FidelityFX CAS Strength: 80
- Path Tracing + Ray Reconstruction: Off
- VRAM Scale Target: 80
- Variable Rate Shading: On
Details & Textures
- Texture Resolution: Low
- Texture Filter Anisotropic: Normal
- Detail of Field: Off
- Detail Quality Level: Low
- Particle Resolution: Very Low
- Bullet Impacts: On
- Persistent Effects: Off
- Shader Quality: Medium
- On-Demand Texture Streaming: Minimal
- Local Texture Streaming Quality: Low
Shadow & Lighting
- Shadow Quality: Low
- Screen Space Shadows: Low
- Ambient Occlusion: Off
- Screen Space Reflections: Off
- Static Reflection Quality: Low
Environment
- Tessellation: Off
- Terrain Memory: Medium
- Volumetric Quality: Low
- Deferred Physics Quality: Off
- Weather Grid Volumes: Off
- Water Quality: Off
View
- Field of View: 105
- ADS Field of View: Affected
- Weapon Field of View: Wide
- 3rd Person Field of View: 90
- Vehicle Field of View: Wide
Camera
- World Motion Blur: Off
- Weapon Motion Blur: Off
- Film Grain: 0
- 1st Person Camera Movement: Least (50%)
- 3rd Person Camera Movement: Least (50%)
- 3rd Person ADS Transition: 3rd Person ADS
- Spectator Camera: Game Perspective
- Inverted Flashbang: Off
Graphics settings for high-end hardware
ActivisionDisplay
- Display Mode: Fullscreen Exclusive
- Display Monitor: Your primary gaming monitor
- Display Adaptor: Your graphics card
- Screen Refresh Rate: Refresh rate of your monitor (e.g. 144)
- Display Resolution: Your monitor’s resolution (e.g. 2560×1440)
- Aspect Ratio: Automatic
- Display Gamma: 2.2 (sRGB)
- Brightness: 55 (adjust for your preference)
- Constrain Mouse to Game Window: Off
- NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: On + Boost
Sustainability
- Eco Mode Preset: Custom
- V-Sync (Gameplay): Off
- V-Sync (Menus): Off
- Custom Frame Rate Limit: Custom
- Gameplay Custom Frame Rate Limit: Your monitor’s refresh rate (e.g. 144)
- Menu Custom Frame Rate Limit: 120
- Out of Focus Custom Frame Rate Limit: 30
- Focused Mode: Off
High Dynamic Range
- High Dynamic Range (HDR): Off
Global Quality
- Quality Presets: Custom
- Render Resolution: 100
- Dynamic Resolution: Off
- Upscaling/Sharpening: FidelityFX CAS
- FidelityFX CAS Strength: 80
- VRAM Scale Target: 80
- Variable Rate Shading: On
Details & Textures
- Texture Resolution: Medium
- Texture Filter Anisotropic: Medium
- Detail of Field: Off
- Detail Quality Level: Medium
- Particle Resolution: Normal
- Bullet Impacts: On
- Persistent Effects: Off
- Shader Quality: Medium
- On-Demand Texture Streaming: Off
- Local Texture Streaming Quality: Low
Shadow & Lighting
- Shadow Quality: Normal
- Screen Space Shadows: Low
- Ambient Occlusion: Both
- Screen Space Reflections: Off
- Static Reflection Quality: Medium
Environment
- Tessellation: Near
- Terrain Memory: Max
- Volumetric Quality: Medium
- Deferred Physics Quality: Off
- Weather Grid Volumes: Normal
- Water Quality: Default
View
- Field of View: 110
- ADS Field of View: Affected
- Weapon Field of View: Wide
- 3rd Person Field of View: 90
- Vehicle Field of View: Wide
Camera
- World Motion Blur: Off
- Weapon Motion Blur: Off
- Film Grain: 0
- 1st Person Camera Movement: Least (50%)
- 3rd Person Camera Movement: Least (50%)
- 3rd Person ADS Transition: 3rd Person ADS
- Spectator Camera: Game Perspective
- Inverted Flashbang: On
MW3 PC system requirements
| Minimum | Recommended | Competitive/ 4K Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) | Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update) | Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update) |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 | Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X | Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
| RAM | 8GB | 16GB | 16 GB |
| Storage Space | SSD with 149 GB available space at launch (78 GB with COD HQ and Warzone already installed) | SSD with 149 GB available space at launch (78 GB with COD HQ and Warzone already installed) | SSD with 149 GB available space at launch (78 GB with COD HQ and Warzone already installed) |
| Hi-Rez Assets Cache | Up to 32 GB | Up to 32 GB | Up to 64 GB |
| Video Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 470 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti / RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600XT | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / RTX 4070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800XT |
| Video Memory | 2GB | 8GB | 10 GB |
| Graphic Driver | NVIDIA: 537.58 or AMD: 23.10.2 | NVIDIA: 537.58 or AMD: 23.10.2 | NVIDIA: 537.58 or AMD: 23.10.2 |
| Network | Broadband internet connection | Broadband internet connection | Broadband internet connection |
| Sound Card | DirectX 12 compatibility | DirectX 12 compatibility | DirectX 12 compatibility |
How to update graphics drivers
How to update NVIDIA graphics driver
- Download GeForce experience through NVIDIA.com.
- Launch GeForce experience.
- Select the ‘Drivers’ tab.
- Click ‘Check for updates’ in the upper right corner.
- If an update is available, simply follow the steps.
If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, the GeForce Experience app will handle this for you.
How to update AMD graphics driver
- Right-click on your desktop.
- Select AMD Radeon Settings.
- Click on the Home icon.
- Click ‘New Updates’ on the bottom left.
- Select ‘Check for update.’
- If an update is available, simply follow the steps.
If you have an AMD GPU, you can use the Radeon Settings to update your drivers.
Running Modern Warfare 3 on your PC with an outdated graphics driver can lead to significant problems. To achieve the best gameplay experience, we highly recommend ensuring that your graphics drivers are updated to their latest version.
Don’t forget to equip the best controller settings and FOV settings if you’re looking to dominate the game and earn a ton of free rewards.