Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 system requirements: minimum, recommended and can you run it
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches 23 October 2026 on PC (Battle.net, Steam and Xbox on PC), plus Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2. The PC minimum is a Ryzen 5 1600 / Core i5-8400, 12 GB RAM and a GTX 970 / GTX 1060 / RX 470 / Arc A580 on Windows 10 64-bit. The recommended build is a Ryzen 5 3600 / Core i7-8700, 16 GB RAM and an RTX 3060 Ti / RX 6700 XT / Arc B580. You need 50 GB on an SSD, and TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are mandatory — the biggest thing that will block people at launch.
Official requirements
Modern Warfare 4 is developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, releasing 23 October 2026. The beta (Early Access 21–25 August, Open Beta 28 August – 1 September 2026) has finished, so these are the specs that matter for the full launch.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10/11 64-bit |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 1600 / Intel Core i5-8400 | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 / Intel Core i7-8700 |
| RAM | 12 GB | 16 GB |
| GPU | AMD RX 470 / NVIDIA GTX 970 / GTX 1060 / Intel Arc A580 | AMD RX 6700 XT / NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti / Intel Arc B580 |
| Storage | 50 GB SSD | 50 GB SSD |
| Security | TPM 2.0 + Secure Boot | TPM 2.0 + Secure Boot |
What the specs mean in practice
- The GPU floor is old but the game still wants an SSD and modern security. A GTX 970 or 1060 will get you into a match, but at low settings and lower resolutions.
- RAM: 12 GB is the hard minimum, 16 GB is the sensible target. With Windows, a browser and a voice app open, 12 GB fills fast. 16 GB is the number to aim for.
- Storage must be an SSD. The 50 GB requirement is quoted against an SSD. A mechanical drive will install the game but stutter during shader compilation and map streaming.
- TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are not optional. Unlike some earlier shooters, MW4's anti-cheat requires both to be enabled in firmware. Machines that were fine for previous Call of Duty titles may still be blocked here. See the Secure Boot and TPM guide if either is off.
Can you run it — by GPU tier
| GPU tier | Verdict at launch |
|---|---|
| Below GTX 970 / RX 470 (e.g. GTX 960, RX 460) | Below minimum. Expect to be blocked or unplayable. |
| GTX 970 / GTX 1060 / RX 470 / Arc A580 | Minimum. 1080p at low settings, aim for a 60 FPS target. |
| GTX 1070 / RTX 2060 / RX 5700 | Comfortably above minimum. 1080p medium–high. |
| RTX 3060 Ti / RX 6700 XT / Arc B580 | Recommended. 1080p high or 1440p medium with reconstruction. |
| RTX 4070 / RX 7800 XT and up | 1440p high, or 4K with DLSS 4.5 / FSR upscaling. |
These are the natural placements against the stated minimum and recommended specs; exact frame rates will depend on your settings and CPU. Do not treat the higher rows as MW4-verified benchmark numbers — they are practical expectations by tier.
The TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirement
This is the single requirement most likely to stop people at launch. MW4 uses a kernel-level anti-cheat that will not run unless:
- TPM 2.0 is present and enabled (a firmware TPM — Intel PTT or AMD fTPM — counts).
- Secure Boot is enabled in the UEFI firmware.
Most PCs from the last several years have both, but many ship with them switched off, especially if the machine was set up before Windows 11 or was upgraded from an older configuration. Enabling Secure Boot can also require switching the boot disk to GPT/UEFI and disabling CSM, which is more involved than a single toggle. The full walkthrough is on the MW4 Secure Boot guide.
DLSS, FSR and ray tracing
MW4 supports DLSS 4.5 and ray tracing. On RTX cards, DLSS lets you render at a lower internal resolution and reconstruct up to your display resolution, which is the easiest way to claw back frame rate at 1440p and 4K. Ray tracing adds a GPU cost, so on mid-range cards it is worth testing with it off first if you are chasing a high, stable frame rate. AMD and Intel cards use their own upscalers in place of DLSS.
Storage and downloads
Budget 50 GB on an SSD for the base install, plus headroom. Launch-week traffic on Battle.net and Steam will make the first download slow — pick a nearby download region if it crawls, and expect the first launch after install to spend a few minutes compiling shaders before you reach the menu.
FAQ
How big is the Modern Warfare 4 download?
50 GB on an SSD is the stated storage requirement. Leave 60–70 GB free for the shader cache and launch patches.
Will MW4 run on 8 GB RAM?
No. 12 GB is the minimum and 16 GB is recommended, so 8 GB machines are below the floor.
Do I really need TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot?
Yes. Both are mandatory for the kernel-level anti-cheat and the game will not let you play with either turned off.
Does MW4 support DLSS and ray tracing?
Yes. It supports DLSS 4.5 and ray tracing, so newer NVIDIA cards can trade image reconstruction for higher frame rates.