Best PC settings for Modern Warfare 3: High FPS, visibility, graphics, more

Modern Warfare 3 matches can get extremely competitive, so using the right PC settings is important for giving you the edge. With this on mind, here are the best MW3 PC settings in Season 3 Reloaded.

Although running the meta weapons and Perks is vital in MW3, you won’t get very far if your settings aren’t up to scratch. This could be your audio or mouse and keyboard setup, or even just the way your PC runs the game.

On that note, here are the best Modern Warfare 3 PC settings in Season 3 Reloaded, allowing you to boost your FPS and more.

• Modern Warfare 3 PC system requirements
• Best Modern Warfare 3 graphics settings for low-end hardware
• Best Modern Warfare 3 graphics settings for high-end hardware
• How to update graphics drivers

Modern Warfare 3 PC system requirements

Before you jump into Modern Warfare 3 and start adjusting the settings, you can check out the 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

Best MW3 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
• V-Sync: Off
• Display Gamma: 2.2 (sRGB)
• Brightness: 55 (adjust for your preference)
• 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: Off
• 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
• 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%)
• 1st Person ADS Transition: 3rd Person ADS
• Spectator Camera: Game Perspective
• Inverted Flashbang: Off

Best MW3 graphics settings for high-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. 2560×1440)
• Aspect Ratio: Automatic
• V-Sync: Off
• Display Gamma: 2.2 (sRGB)
• Brightness: 55 (adjust for your preference)
• 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: Medium
• 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
• Vehicle Field of View: Wide

Camera

• World Motion Blur: Off
• Weapon Motion Blur: Off
• Film Grain: 0
• 1st Person Camera Movement: Default (100%)
• Spectator Camera: Game Perspective
• Inverted Flashbang: On

How to update graphics drivers for MW3

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, and here’s how:

How to update NVIDIA graphics driver

If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, the GeForce Experience app will handle this for you.

1. Download GeForce experience through NVIDIA.com.
2. Launch GeForce experience.
3. Select the ‘Drivers’ tab.
4. Click ‘Check for updates’ in the upper right corner.
5. If an update is available, simply follow the steps.

How to update AMD graphics driver

If you have an AMD GPU, you can use the Radeon Settings to update your drivers.

1. Right-click on your desktop.
2. Select AMD Radeon Settings.
3. Click on the Home icon.
4. Click ‘New Updates’ on the bottom left.
5. Select ‘Check for update.’
6. If an update is available, simply follow the steps.

For more on Modern Warfare 3, be sure to check out our other guides:

Best MW3 Assault Rifles | Best MW3 Sniper Rifles | Best MW3 PC settings | When is the next Modern Warfare 3 Double XP event? | Best controller settings for MW3 | How to get Ray Gun Schematic in MW3 Zombies | How to carry more items in MW3 Zombies | MW3 Zombies: How to complete Outlast contract