In this guide, my goal will be to show you the best graphics settings for Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) and Warzone 2 on PC. I already have a post for The best graphics settings for COD MW2 on PS5 so do check that out in your own time.
MW2/Warzone 2 – Best PC Graphics Settings
Given that the game is decently optimized, tweaking the settings is not that hard, but before diving in, let us first check out the minimum and recommended system specifications to run COD MW2. Without this, you will be uncertain, and optimizing the settings will be tough.
Minimum System Specs for MW2/Warzone 2
If you simply want to know whether your PC can handle the game or not, these points will show the hardware and software specs to start with:
- Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit (latest update)
- Processor: Intel Core i3-6100 / Core i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen 3 1200
- Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon RX 470 (DirectX 12.0 compatible system)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Storage: 125 GB
Most of you out there will be able to run the game unless you have not updated your hardware and software specs for quite some time!
Recommended System Specs for MW2/ Warzone 2
This is where you get to know if you are able to run the game at high to max settings with good FPS or just stay somewhere in the middle:
- Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64-bit (latest update)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K / Core i7-4770 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400
- Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580 (DirectX 12.0 compatible system)
- Memory: 12 GB RAM
- Storage: 125 GB
There is not much of a difference from the Minimum system specs in terms of the price difference. The only issue can be an SSD and the massive storage of 125 GB, which is manageable. The rest of the specs are fine and can be dealt with.
Best In-Game Graphics Settings For MW2/Warzone 2
On-Demand Texture Streaming
This is a feature that has existed on PCs for some time now. It was introduced to consoles for Warzone specifically and is now included in COD MW 2.
What On-Demand Texture Streaming does is it allows players to stream high-resolution textures which improves the games’ fidelity.
I keep this ON since this saves the overall package size for Modern Warfare 2, and saves some amount of space in your storage.
This is, however, a small amount, but it takes off some load from your storage and rendering.
World and Weapon Motion Blur
I keep Motion Blur OFF. That is because no matter how great the game looks and feels, unless I am playing the campaign, this hinders my performance to aim and shoot properly.
You can play around with this and let me know what feels best for you. Basically, it is a matter of cool visuals versus performance and Framerates.
Depth of Field
This gives depth to your game and makes your weapon and view more realistic. I personally keep this OFF.
This is optional, and if you do not like it, I recommend that you turn this ON. Good for campaigns but not so good for multiplayer performance.
Upscaling / Sharpening
Use NVIDIA DLSS and use Quality for the best experience. Usually, these settings, along with NVIDIA RTX cards, will give you a smooth experience.
For PS5, you can use the Fidelity FXCAS also, but not for NVIDIA Cards. Note that if you are using this setting, you will NOT have access to the given settings:
- Anti-aliasing
- Antialiasing Quality
Also, the sharpening level is set to 65 for me. I found out that this gave me enough clear visuals and clarity for the best experience.
Field of View
There are two aspects to this option. Weapon FoV and ADS FoV. First of all, try to find a sweet spot where your FoV is not so much that your aim goes off!
For me, the sweet spot was 105. It can be a different value for you. You can also set this to the max and then adjust from there. Leave the subcategories to their default value.
- ADS FoV – Affected (Default)
- Weapon FoV – Narrow (Default)
3rd Person Field of View
I am hoping that this enhances the experience in Vehicle Mode and 3rd Person View as well. I kept this to the default value of 80. You can turn this up to 100 or more, depending on your taste.
Anti-Aliasing and Quality
Filmic SMAA T2X worked well for my setup with the quality being set to High. That is because any other setting with quality of High value is not that great to look at.
You can try any other combination also, but this one worked for the RTX 3060Ti I own. This is OFF if you are using NVIDIA DLSS for upscaling. Otherwise, use this setting.
Texture Resolution and Filter
High for both. That is because the resolution will give you more color details on surfaces. The latter will improve the texture quality of surfaces if you see it at an angle. Both are important for the campaign and multiplayer. Hence I kept them, as you can see.
Nearby and Distant Level of Detail
Nearby LOD should be Low, whereas Distant LOD should also be Low. The objects and reflections will be either detailed or dull based on the setting you use. So this is a personal preference since there is not much GPU or CPU stress here.
Clutter Draw Distance
This is the distance at which you can clearly see rocks and other objects in detail. I set this to short for better visuals. More renders mean more Framerates being taken off from me.
Particle Quality and Level
Particle Quality is High, whereas the level of it is Low. The detail of particles takes some toll on your visuals and framerates but makes the effects look awesome. Hence I keep this High, and the detail level is set to Low for a good balance of quality and performance.
Bullet Impact & Sprays
I keep this OFF. This will essentially show the effects of bullets on walls or any other surface. Keeping this OFF will result in good frames due to reduces noise on the screen.
Shader Quality
Use the High Settings for this. This sets the quality of lighting on some surfaces. Depending on how you set this, it will show you the detailings and lighting of surfaces. For Warzone 2 use Medium settings. it will give a good effect but drop a few frames so keep that in mind.
Tesselation and Terrain Memory
Improvement of the render quality of objects and surfaces is determined by this setting. I keep this to OFF for the best results. Terrain memory is MIN for me. Basically, this gives me the best results in-game.
Volumetric and Deferred Physics Quality
Set both of these to Low for the best results. The Deferred option set the quality of water. The first one sets the lighting, fog, and clouds due to the High settings.
Water Caustics
This was not in the BETA version but has been introduced in the full version of COD MW2. This adds lighting effects at the bottom of the water bodies. Keep this ON if you do not prefer such effects and are more of an online player.
Shadow Map Resolution and Screen Space Shadows
Normal for resolution and OFF for Shadows. Keep this Normal for the best performance and quality results. Since Shadow settings take up a lot of CPU and some GPU resources, do not turn on any setting that you do not need.
Cache Spot Shadows and Spot Shadow Quality
Cache Spot Shadows should be turned ON. This helps save memory and resources by saving the shadows in memory. Spot Shadow Quality should be set to Medium for a better balance.
Spot Cache, Particle Lighting, and Ambient Occlusion
Medium for Cache and Normal for Lighting. Ambient Occlusion should be set to OFF for the best occlusion lighting and effects. These options are up to preference and can be changed accordingly.
Screen Space Reflection and Static Reflection Quality
Normal for SSR and Static Reflection Quality set to Low. This sets the reflection of SSR
Weather Grid Volumes
This sets the effect of weather on dynamic elements like trees and other moving objects. I set this to Normal for the best balance of frames and effects mixed into the game.
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency
ON + Boosted for the most impact on Multiplayer. This increases the power draw of the GPU, but this will enhance the performance of your inputs and performance in the game.
System Specifications Used To Test
For the Operating System, I use a Windows 10 64-bit. Gives me a good balance of software without too many bugs. For Processor, I tried the Ryzen 5 5600x which is a decent mid-tier CPU to run the latest and modern games.
In terms of Graphics Card, my choice is the RTX 3060Ti FE with a Memory of 8GB. Decent card for modern games but not top-of-the-line. I use 32 Gigs of DDR4 RAM with a speed of 3200 MHz. The Storage of choice is a 1TB M.2 SSD with good read and write speeds.
The Monitor in use is an Odyssey G7 with a refresh rate of 240Hz and 2K screen res. This gives me enough room to try the game on 1440p as well as on 1080p by changing some settings. This is the complete list of Hardware I used for this test.
Results and Tips for More Frames
If you are running on the systems I will list below, you need some tips and tweaks in order to get more Frame rates, so keep that in mind:
- CPU – i3 6th Gen onwards (i3 8100 or later), i5 8th to 12th gen, i7 old gen processors, Ryzen 3 or 5 3000 series, and similar processors
- GPU – GTX 750Ti, GTX 1050Ti, GTX 1650, GTX 1660, RTX 2060, RTX 2070.
| Average FPS on COD MW 2 | 120 |
| Average FPS on Warzone 2 | 105 |
I managed around 120 FPS with the above tweaks and settings. If you have the combination of the above setups, you need to make further changes to your system which will help you in getting more Framerates. For example, do the following tweaks:
- Shadows – Lower them as per your comfort zone. I would suggest going for the lowest one.
- Textures – Medium is fine for Multiplayer games since performance will matter there. For campaigns, you can turn it up!
- Volumetric Settings – Lowest possible for the most Frames since this is taking up the most Frames out of all the settings.
- Particle settings – Do not use any particle settings if you are on the above setups. It will take up a lot of resources and bring the Framerates down.
That is all I have to share in this guide on the Best settings for PCs in COD MW2. Do let me know your inputs and questions in the comments below.
I know that the settings are a lot to take in, but if you give their description a good read, it will be beneficial and informative for you. You can set it from then on properly.
For more such guides, follow gamertagzero and our COD MW2 and Warzone 2 section.
Thanks for coming!
Last Updated on January 20, 2024
A computer science graduate by qualification, Zoid loves to keep himself updated with the latest gaming content related to PC, Android, and other platforms as well. Likes to keep his diet and health in check from time to time!