Can I Run Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II on My PC / Laptop?
A military shooter tuned for high refresh rates on both console and PC, built around an engine that streams textures constantly rather than loading them all up front.
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Can I run Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II on my PC?
Use the checker above to find out in seconds. Pick your graphics card and processor and it compares them against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's official requirements. As a quick guide, you need at least a NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 or AMD Radeon™ RX 470 - DirectX 12.0 compatible system graphics card, a Intel® Core™ i3-6100 / Core™ i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen™ 3 1200 processor, and 8 GB RAM of RAM to play at 1080p.
Can I run Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II on my laptop?
Yes, if your laptop has a dedicated graphics card around a NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 or AMD Radeon™ RX 470 - DirectX 12.0 compatible system or better and 8 GB RAM of RAM. Laptops with only integrated graphics usually fall short. Enter your laptop's GPU in the tool above to check. Keep in mind that the laptop version of a card runs a little slower than the desktop card of the same name, and heat can lower sustained frame rates.
Short answer: yes, most PCs from the last several years can run Modern Warfare II, and it is one of the better-optimized Call of Duty PC ports. What trips people up is not raw GPU power. It is the install size, which balloons once Warzone 2 shares the same launcher, and a texture-streaming system that stutters on a slow drive or a card without enough VRAM headroom, even when the frame rate itself looks fine.
Run your own CPU and GPU through the checker above to see where you land against the official tiers. Further down are all four official spec levels (Activision quietly publishes a Competitive tier that most requirement lists skip), real frame rates across a range of cards, the factors that actually decide your experience, and a long list of answers covering specific graphics cards, laptops, and consoles.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II system requirements
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor (CPU) | Intel® Core™ i3-6100 / Core™ i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen™ 3 1200 | Intel® Core™ i5-6600K / Core™ i7-4770 or AMD Ryzen™ 5 1400 |
| Graphics card (GPU) | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 or AMD Radeon™ RX 470 - DirectX 12.0 compatible system | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon™ RX 580 - DirectX 12.0 compatible system or Intel® Arc™ A770 |
| Memory (RAM) | 8 GB RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Operating system | Windows® 10 64 Bit (latest update) | Windows® 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows® 11 64 Bit (latest update) |
| DirectX | Version 12 | Version 12 |
| Storage | 125 GB available space | 125 GB available space |
Storage: 125 GB on Steam for the base install. It shares assets and a launcher with Warzone 2, so a combined install has run past 200 GB in the past, before Activision's post-launch texture and audio optimization passes trimmed it back down. Either way, put it on an SSD. The engine streams high-res textures on the fly, and a hard drive is the single biggest cause of pop-in and stutter.
Full performance tiers
| Tier | Target | CPU | GPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 1080p, low settings | Core i3-6100 / i5-2500K or Ryzen 3 1200 | GTX 960 or RX 470 (2 GB VRAM) | 8 GB |
| Recommended | 1080p, high settings, 60 fps | Core i5-6600K / i7-4770 or Ryzen 5 1400 | GTX 1060, RX 580, or Arc A770 (4 GB VRAM) | 12 GB |
| Competitive | 1080p, high fps for 144Hz+ monitors | Core i7-8700K or Ryzen 7 1800X | RTX 3060 Ti or RX 5700 XT (8 GB VRAM) | 16 GB |
| Ultra 4K | 4K, ultra settings | Core i9-9900K or Ryzen 9 3900X | RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT (10 GB VRAM) | 16 GB |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II FPS by graphics card
| Graphics card | 1080p | 1440p | 4K | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTX 1650 | ~50-55 (Low) | , | , | Under the 4GB VRAM the recommended tier wants. Turn on FSR or XeSS to hold 60. |
| GTX 1060 6GB | ~47 (Ultra) | , | , | The old recommended card. Drop to Normal settings for a steadier 60+. |
| RTX 2060 | ~100 (Ultra) | , | , | Handles native ultra at 1080p without needing upscaling. |
| RX 6600 | ~55-60 (High) | , | , | Solid for 1080p, a step below what the Competitive tier targets. |
| RTX 3060 | ~90 (High) | ~60 | , | Fast enough for the Competitive tier's fps range, though its 12GB VRAM covers more than the tier asks for. |
| RTX 3060 Ti | ~164 | ~110 | , | The card Activision names for its Competitive tier. Built for a 144Hz monitor. |
| RTX 4070 | ~180+ | ~137 | ~70 | Stays near or above 144 fps at 1080p and 1440p together. |
| RTX 4090 | ~293 (Ultra) | 300+ | ~100 (Extreme, native) | The only card that holds close to 100 fps at native 4K Extreme without upscaling. |
Numbers are approximate averages from multiplayer benchmarks at Ultra unless noted, and they move with the map, player count, and driver version. Campaign and Spec Ops tend to run a bit lower than multiplayer at the same settings. At 1080p on a fast GPU, an older CPU becomes the ceiling before the graphics card does.
Can these graphics cards run Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II?
| Graphics card | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GTX 1050 Ti | Below minimum | Below the minimum card. Very low settings, if it runs. |
| GTX 1650 | Playable | Meets minimum. Low to medium at 1080p, tune for a steady rate. |
| RX 570 | Playable | At the minimum bar. 1080p low to medium, drop a setting if needed. |
| RX 580 | Playable | At the minimum bar. 1080p low to medium, drop a setting if needed. |
| GTX 1060 6GB | Runs well | Past the recommended tier. High settings at 1080p, 1440p on the table. |
| GTX 1650 Super | Runs well | At or above the recommended card. Smooth 1080p high, 1440p realistic. |
| GTX 1660 | Runs well | Exceeds recommended. 1080p high is comfortable, 1440p fine. |
| GTX 1660 Super | Runs well | Above recommended. 1080p high is easy, and 1440p works too. |
| RTX 3050 | Runs well | Recommended tier or better. High 1080p, with room for 1440p. |
| GTX 1660 Ti | Runs well | Beats the recommended spec. Comfortable high 1080p, playable 1440p. |
| RX 6600 | Runs well | Above recommended. 1080p high is easy, and 1440p works too. |
| RTX 2060 | Runs well | Beats the recommended spec. Comfortable high 1080p, playable 1440p. |
| RTX 4050 | Runs well | Recommended tier or better. High 1080p, with room for 1440p. |
| Arc A750 | Runs well | Above recommended. 1080p high is easy, and 1440p works too. |
| RTX 3060 | Runs well | Above recommended. 1080p high is easy, and 1440p works too. |
| RX 6600 XT | Runs well | Recommended tier or better. High 1080p, with room for 1440p. |
| RX 7600 | Runs well | Over the recommended bar. Smooth high 1080p, 1440p realistic. |
| RX 6700 XT | Runs well | Past the recommended tier. High settings at 1080p, 1440p on the table. |
| RTX 4060 | Runs well | At or above the recommended card. Smooth 1080p high, 1440p realistic. |
| RTX 3060 Ti | Runs well | Strong fit. High settings at 1080p, 1440p within reach. |
| RTX 3070 | Runs well | Recommended tier or better. High 1080p, with room for 1440p. |
| RTX 4070 | Runs well | Recommended tier or better. High 1080p, with room for 1440p. |
The install size is the first wall, not your GPU
Most people who search whether their PC can run Modern Warfare II already have a capable enough GPU. The thing that actually stops them is drive space. The base game alone wants 125 GB, and it shares a single launcher and asset library with Warzone 2, so installing both at once has pushed past 200 GB in the past. Activision has trimmed that down with texture and audio optimization updates since launch, but budget generously and check your free space before you queue the download.
This also affects performance, not just installs. The engine streams textures in from disk as you move through a level instead of loading everything into memory up front. On an SSD that is invisible. On a hard drive, or on a drive that is nearly full, it shows up as texture pop-in and short stutters, even on hardware well above the minimum spec.
VRAM and texture streaming, where 8GB starts to matter
An 8GB graphics card handles Modern Warfare II fine up through 1080p and 1440p at high or ultra settings. The pressure point is 4K, where Activision's own Ultra 4K tier asks for 10GB of VRAM on an RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT class card. Push texture quality to its top setting at 4K on an 8GB card and you will see streaming hitches as it swaps textures in and out faster than the card can keep up.
If you notice stutter that correlates with turning your head fast or entering a new area rather than with a steady low frame rate, that is a texture-streaming symptom, not a raw horsepower problem. Lowering Texture Resolution one notch, or turning off on-demand texture streaming entirely in the graphics menu, is the first thing to try before touching anything else.
Chasing high fps: what the Competitive tier actually buys you
Activision publishes a Competitive spec tier most requirement lists leave out, built around an RTX 3060 Ti or RX 5700 XT and 16GB of RAM, aimed at players running 144Hz or faster monitors. In practice a card in that class clears 150 to 160 fps at 1080p, and an RTX 4070 or better stays near or above 144 fps even at 1440p. On console, both PS5 and Xbox Series X support a 120fps multiplayer mode on a compatible TV, though the campaign is capped lower.
To get there on PC: keep resolution at 1080p, run FSR, DLSS, or XeSS on Quality if your card supports it, and set particle quality to low first. Particle effects hit the 1st and 5th percentile lows (the worst-case stutters) harder than almost any other setting, so trimming them smooths gameplay even when the average fps barely changes.
The gotchas: shader stutter, always-online, and what Steam Deck can't do
Multiplayer and Warzone require a constant internet connection through Ricochet, Activision's kernel-level anti-cheat; there is no fully offline multiplayer. The campaign and Spec Ops can be played offline. The first few minutes after a fresh install or a big patch often stutter as the game compiles shaders in the background; that clears up once the cache builds.
Ricochet is also why the game is not playable through Proton on Steam Deck or other Linux handhelds. It relies on Windows kernel-level hooks that Proton cannot replicate, so SteamOS blocks it outright, campaign included. The only way to run it on a Deck is installing Windows on the device itself, which is a real workaround some owners use but is not the out-of-the-box experience.
Can I run Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II? Your questions answered
A GTX 960 or RX 470 with 2GB of VRAM, a Core i3-6100 or i5-2500K or a Ryzen 3 1200, 8GB of RAM, and DirectX 12. That gets you 1080p on low settings, not a fast frame rate.
A GTX 1060, RX 580, or Arc A770 with 4GB of VRAM, a Core i5-6600K or i7-4770 or a Ryzen 5 1400, and Activision lists 12GB of RAM for this tier, aimed at 1080p on high settings.
Yes, two. Activision also publishes a Competitive tier (RTX 3060 Ti or RX 5700 XT, 16GB RAM) built for high refresh monitors, and an Ultra 4K tier (RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT, 10GB VRAM) for native 4K. Most requirement round-ups online only mention Minimum and Recommended.
8GB is the bare minimum and will feel tight with other apps open. Activision's own recommended tier asks for 12GB, and 16GB is what the Competitive and Ultra 4K tiers list. 16GB is the realistic target if you want headroom.
2GB gets you the minimum tier, 4GB the recommended tier, and 8GB is what Activision names for the Competitive tier. VRAM pressure mainly shows up at 4K or with texture quality maxed, where the official Ultra 4K tier wants 10GB.
125GB for the base game on Steam. Because it shares assets with Warzone 2, a combined install has run past 200GB in the past, though patches since launch have trimmed that. Check your free space before downloading.
It is not a hard requirement, but it should be treated as one. The engine streams textures from disk continuously, and a hard drive is the most common cause of texture pop-in and stutter that has nothing to do with your GPU's speed.
A handful of specific things cause this: a slow or nearly full drive struggling to stream textures fast enough, shaders still compiling right after a fresh install or patch, or particle-heavy fights tanking your worst-case frame times. Turn off on-demand texture streaming, let the game idle on the main menu for a minute after patching, and set particles to low, and most of it clears up.
Yes, across every spec tier. There is no DirectX 11 fallback, so your graphics card and drivers need DirectX 12 support.
Yes. It supports Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS for upscaling, though at launch the FSR implementation was version 1.0, an older and less effective version than what shipped in most games by 2023. It's a real fps boost on weaker cards regardless.
Multiplayer and Warzone require a constant connection, tied to the Ricochet anti-cheat system. The campaign and Spec Ops missions can be played offline once installed.
Yes, across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. There is no crossplay with Call of Duty: Mobile, which is a separate game built on different tech.
Less than most people assume for the minimum tier, an i3-6100 or Ryzen 3 1200 clears it. But at 1080p with a fast GPU, an older quad-core becomes the limiting factor before the card does, so if you're chasing high fps for a 144Hz monitor, the CPU upgrade often matters more than the GPU one.
Yes, comfortably. The RTX 3050 sits at or above Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's recommended card, so 1080p on high is smooth and 1440p is well within reach.
Runnable. The GTX 1650 covers Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's minimum, meaning 1080p low to medium and a smoother feel after a small settings drop. Around 50 to 55 fps at 1080p Low. Turn on FSR or XeSS to hold a steady 60.
The GTX 1060 6GB is a strong fit for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. It lands at or above the recommended spec, so high 1080p is comfortable and 1440p works. About 47 fps at 1080p Ultra. Drop to Normal settings for a steadier 60+.
Yes. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II runs on the RX 580 at 1080p low to medium; shave a setting or two and the frame rate settles.
Yes, comfortably. The RTX 4060 sits at or above Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's recommended card, so 1080p on high is smooth and 1440p is well within reach.
Yes. The RTX 3060 has headroom over Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's recommended card, so you can push 1080p high and move to 1440p when you want. Around 90 fps at 1080p High and about 60 at 1440p.
Yes. The RTX 2060 has headroom over Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's recommended card, so you can push 1080p high and move to 1440p when you want. Roughly 100 fps at 1080p Ultra, handled natively without needing upscaling.
Yes. The GTX 1660 has headroom over Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's recommended card, so you can push 1080p high and move to 1440p when you want.
The GTX 1660 Super is a strong fit for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. It lands at or above the recommended spec, so high 1080p is comfortable and 1440p works.
Comfortably, yes. The RX 6600 clears Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's recommended bar, which puts high 1080p and 1440p both in reach. About 55 to 60 fps at 1080p High, a step below the Competitive tier's target.
No trouble at all. The GTX 1660 Ti meets or beats what Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II recommends, so 1080p high runs well and 1440p is realistic.
Yes. On the RTX 3060 Ti, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II runs at high settings in 1080p and scales up to 1440p without much fuss. About 164 fps at 1080p, roughly 110 at 1440p. This is the card Activision names for its Competitive tier.
Yes. On the RTX 4050, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II runs at high settings in 1080p and scales up to 1440p without much fuss.
It is under the bar. The GTX 1050 Ti does not meet Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's minimum, so any play would be very low settings with weak performance.
Comfortably, yes. The RTX 4070 clears Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's recommended bar, which puts high 1080p and 1440p both in reach. Around 137 fps at 1440p and well over 180 at 1080p.
No native version exists for Mac, M-series chips included, so a MacBook can't run this directly no matter how new it is. Cloud streaming through something like GeForce Now, or a Windows compatibility layer such as CrossOver, are your only real workarounds, and neither is officially supported.
Older integrated graphics fall short of the GTX 960 minimum. A newer, stronger chip like Radeon 780M can manage 1080p on low settings around 40 to 50 fps, and Intel Iris Xe can get close at reduced settings, but neither is a reliable experience and both need everything else on the PC pulling its weight too.
There's no local way to do this on ChromeOS. Cloud streaming through something like GeForce Now is the only route, where the game actually runs on a remote server and just streams the video to your screen.
Not through SteamOS or Proton. Ricochet, the game's anti-cheat, relies on Windows kernel-level hooks that Proton cannot replicate, so Valve and other Linux-based handhelds block it entirely, campaign included. The ROG Ally and Legion Go can run it if you install Windows on the device, since both ship with that option; that's a genuine workaround, not the default setup.
Yes, GeForce Now supports it, which is the practical route for a Mac, Chromebook, or any PC below the minimum spec. Performance depends on your internet connection rather than your local hardware.
You'll want an RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT class card with 10GB of VRAM or more, which is Activision's own Ultra 4K tier. An RTX 4090 is the card that holds close to 100 fps at native 4K Extreme; anything below the 3080 tier should lean on DLSS or FSR to make 4K comfortable.
An RTX 3060 Ti or better holds well over 100 fps at 1440p high settings, and an RTX 4070 stays near 140. Cards in the RTX 3060 range are still fine at 1440p, just closer to 60 fps than to a high refresh number.
Anything at or above Activision's recommended tier gets you there. A GTX 1060 already sits around 47 fps at native Ultra on its own, and dropping one settings notch or flipping on FSR pushes it past 60 with barely a visible change.
This is what Activision's Competitive tier targets: an RTX 3060 Ti or RX 5700 XT class GPU paired with a fast six-core-plus CPU, since the game becomes CPU-bound at 1080p before it becomes GPU-bound on that hardware. Console players get a 120fps multiplayer mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X with a compatible TV.
Yes to both. PS4 targets around 900p to 1080p with reduced settings and can dip below 60 fps in busy multiplayer moments. PS5 runs cleanly at 1080p to 4K depending on the mode, including a 120fps multiplayer option. This page focuses on the PC version.
Yes. Xbox One runs it at reduced resolution and settings similar to PS4. Xbox Series X supports a 120fps multiplayer mode, and Series S targets 1080p at a steady 60. This page covers the PC version and its requirements.
No. Modern Warfare II uses the Ricochet anti-cheat, which relies on Windows kernel level hooks that Proton cannot replicate, so Valve and every other Linux based system block the game outright, campaign included. Installing Windows on a handheld like the ROG Ally sidesteps the issue, but that means running Windows, not Linux. On a genuine Linux distro or SteamOS, there is currently no way to launch it.
Yes, well above the recommended tier. Expect around 70 to 80 fps at 1080p on high to ultra settings, close to the fps range Activision's Competitive tier targets.
Yes, comfortably above recommended and near Competitive-tier territory. Figure roughly 95 to 100 fps at 1080p Ultra.
Yes, effectively at the Competitive tier's performance level even though it predates that tier's official card list. Expect around 115 to 125 fps at 1080p Ultra.
Yes, above recommended and approaching Competitive-tier fps. Around 105 to 115 fps at 1080p Ultra is typical.
Yes, solidly in Competitive-tier range. Expect roughly 125 to 135 fps at 1080p Ultra, enough to make real use of a 144Hz monitor.
Yes, well above the Competitive tier. Benchmarks put it around 150 to 177 fps at 1080p High, and it holds a strong frame rate at 1440p too.
Yes, slightly ahead of the RTX 3070, typically 5 to 10 percent faster, so figure somewhere around 160 to 185 fps at 1080p High.
Yes, this is the card named in Activision's own Ultra 4K tier. Expect north of 200 fps at 1080p and enough VRAM headroom for 4K Ultra with DLSS.
Yes, above the Ultra 4K tier's baseline card. Around 210 to 220 fps at 1080p and a smooth native 4K experience even without upscaling turned on.
Yes, comfortably above recommended and into Competitive-tier fps. Roughly 140 to 150 fps at 1080p High is a reasonable estimate based on where it sits relative to the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 4070.
Yes, well past the Competitive tier. Expect over 200 fps at 1080p and around 150 fps at 1440p.
Yes, similar to or slightly ahead of the RTX 4070 Ti, so figure roughly 200 to 210 fps at 1080p.
Yes, far beyond what this game needs. Around 240 to 260 fps at 1080p, and it handles 1440p and native 4K Ultra without breaking a sweat.
Yes, it's the strongest card benchmarked for this game. Around 293 fps at 1080p Ultra and roughly 100 fps at native 4K Extreme without any upscaling.
Yes, well into Competitive-tier fps. Benchmarks show it averaging around 191 fps at 1080p.
Yes, above the Competitive tier's requirements. Expect roughly 200 fps at 1080p High and a strong 1440p result too, helped by its 12GB of VRAM.
Yes, one of the stronger mid-range results for this game. Benchmarks show it averaging around 220 fps at 1080p.
Yes, comfortably above the Competitive tier. Expect around 230 fps at 1080p and a smooth 1440p Ultra experience.
Yes, on par with or ahead of the RTX 3080 tier named in Activision's own specs. Around 250 fps at 1080p and strong 4K performance.
Yes, roughly in line with an RTX 4060, so figure around 130 to 140 fps at 1080p High, above the Competitive tier's floor.
Yes, well past Competitive-tier fps. Expect around 200 fps at 1080p.
Yes, close to RX 6800 XT and RTX 3080 territory. Around 230 fps at 1080p and comfortable 1440p Ultra.
Yes, far above anything this game asks for. It launched well after Modern Warfare II and has not been formally benchmarked against it, but based on its generational uplift over the RTX 4070, expect well over 200 fps at 1080p without effort.
Yes, comfortably. Like the RTX 5070, it launched after this game and wasn't part of its original benchmark round, but its performance tier sits well above the Ultra 4K spec, so native 4K at a high frame rate is realistic.
Yes, this is far more GPU than Modern Warfare II needs. It launched years after the game and was never part of its benchmark suite, but any card in this class will be limited by your CPU and monitor refresh rate before the GPU itself becomes the bottleneck.
Marginally. Iris Xe sits below the official GTX 960 minimum, but it can sometimes reach playable frame rates at 1080p on low settings with upscaling on. It's not a reliable target, and a discrete GPU is a better bet.
Yes, within limits. It's a strong integrated chip for a laptop and can hold roughly 40 to 50 fps at 1080p on low settings, which clears the minimum tier even though it's not officially listed.
Barely. Vega 8 is below the GTX 960 minimum. You can sometimes coax playable frame rates out of it at 720p on the lowest settings, but it's not a good experience and a dedicated GPU is the real fix.
Within limits, yes. At the true minimum of a GTX 960, an i3-6100, and 8GB of RAM you'll get 1080p on low settings and a frame rate that isn't steady. Turning on FSR or XeSS and dropping resolution helps more than any single settings tweak.
No, there is no Switch version, and given the game's install size and streaming demands, one is unlikely. This page covers the PC version and its requirements.