Best PC specs & graphics cards to play Black Ops Cold War
Activision recently updated its list of minimum and optimal specifications to play Black Ops Cold War on PC.
With cross-play being included in Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War, Call of Duty has seen a surge in the number of PC players playing. PC offers users much more customization options for their game, including adjusting graphics settings to get the optimal experience.
As technology advances, games require stronger systems to run. Here’s what you need to get the best experience while playing Black Ops Cold War on PC. Look for these graphics drivers if purchasing a prebuilt PC, or make sure you have them if you are building your own.
Low-Mid Budget
PCs are expensive. If you’re on a low budget, you will be aiming to hit somewhere between the minimum and recommended specs. NVIDIA’s GeForce 16 series is the place to go here as they cover the beginner to mid-range market.
The minimum graphics card required to run Black Ops Cold War is a GeForce GTX 1650. If you want to hit the recommended settings, you’ll need to go to the higher end of the 16 series, such as the 1660 Super.
To purchase a card in the 16 series on its own, the cheapest you can buy them is from around $150 to $250. A prebuilt system with a 16 series card usually goes for upwards of $800.
Also make sure your system has at least 8gb of RAM and an Intel Core I3-430 or AMD FX-6300 CPU.
Mid-High Budget
If you’re looking for a competitive performance with high frame rates, you will want at least the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 card. The 10 series came out before the 16 series, hence the lower model number, but the 1080 is a more powerful card.
If you don’t own one already, the GTX 1080 is now out of production so is difficult to get a hold of.
If you’re looking to upgrade, you will need to go to the RTX 20 series. You’ll be able to find 20 series cards for upwards of $300. If your budget is that bit higher, you could also get NVIDIA’s RTX 3070 which allows for Ray Tracing. This retails for around $499.
You will also need 16gb of RAM and an Intel I7-8007K or an AMD RYZEN 1800X CPU.
High Budget
If you want the best of the best and money is so issue, NVIDIA’s RTX 3080 and 3090 are the cards for you.
These cards allow for 4K Ray Tracing which will have Black Ops Cold War looking the best it possibly can. The 3080 retails for $699 and the 3090 for $1,499.
If you are purchasing an RTX 3080 or 3090, a copy of Black Ops Cold War will be included with it. Due to the high demand for these cards, they are currently not in stock. It’s possible there will be a window when to pick up the card with a copy of the game.
If you want your game to run in high FPS with 4K Ray Tracing, you will need 125gb hard drive space.
You will also need 16gb of RAM and an INTEL I9-9900K or AMD RYZEN 3700X CPU.
Black Ops Cold War will release on PC and consoles November 13.
