Three big releases, three spec sheets, and the one GPU tier that covers all of them
October is stacked. Gears of War: E-Day lands October 6, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 follows on October 23, and Phantom Blade Zero closes out the month on October 29. All three have published PC requirements, and they tell a pretty consistent story about what a gaming PC needs heading into 2027.
So here's the straight version: what each game officially asks for, what those numbers mean for a 1080p, 1440p or 4K monitor, and where we'd put your money if you're building or upgrading this fall. No made-up benchmark charts, just the publishers' own specs and our read on them.
GEARS OF WAR: E-DAY (OCTOBER 6)
The Coalition's prequel is the friendliest of the three on paper. The minimum spec is a card most people already own, and the recommended tier targets 1440p at 60 FPS on High, not 1080p, which is a nice change.
| Tier | GPU | CPU / RAM | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | RTX 2060 / RX 6600 | 12GB RAM | Entry settings |
| Recommended | RTX 3060 Ti / RX 6700 XT / RTX 5060 | 16GB RAM | 1440p / 60 FPS, High |
| Ultra | RTX 5070 Ti / RX 7900 XT | Ryzen 7 7800X3D | 4K / 60 FPS, Ultra |
Upscaling support is broad: DLSS 4.5, FSR 4 and XeSS 3 are all in, so NVIDIA, AMD and Intel owners each get their vendor's latest. Reports on the install size don't agree yet, so plan on a roomy NVMe drive and check the store page before you download.
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 4 (OCTOBER 23)
Call of Duty has always scaled down well, and MW4 keeps that tradition at the bottom end. The top end is a different story, and there's one requirement that matters more than any GPU on this list.
| Tier | GPU | Other Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | GTX 1060 / RX 470 | TPM 2.0 + Secure Boot |
| Recommended | RTX 3060 Ti / RX 6600 XT | TPM 2.0 + Secure Boot |
| Ray Tracing | RTX 5070 Ti / RX 9070 XT | 32GB RAM, TPM 2.0 + Secure Boot |
| Storage | 115GB, SSD | |
TPM 2.0 AND SECURE BOOT ARE MANDATORY
MW4 requires both TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot to be enabled. If you're still on an older board or running with Secure Boot off, the game won't launch, no matter how fast your GPU is. We covered what that means for older systems in our Windows 10 end-of-gaming breakdown, and our Windows 11 page covers the TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot support that comes standard on every Lone Star build.
Also note the RAM jump on the ray tracing tier: 32GB. Between that and a 115GB footprint, MW4 is a good reminder that 16GB and a nearly full 1TB drive are starting to feel tight.
PHANTOM BLADE ZERO (OCTOBER 29)
This action RPG has the most demanding top tier of the three. The recommended card is the same RTX 3060 Ti we keep seeing this month, but if you want full path tracing at 4K and 60 FPS, the developer's answer is an RTX 5080.
| Tier | GPU | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended | RTX 3060 Ti | Standard rasterized settings |
| Path Tracing | RTX 5080 | 4K / 60 FPS with path tracing |
Path tracing is a "want," not a "need." The game will look and play great on the recommended tier. But if you bought a 4K OLED specifically for showcase lighting, this is the game that will make you want more GPU.
Bonus: The Witcher 3 Remastered
If you're reinstalling Geralt's adventure for the free remaster upgrade that dropped September 29, the path tracing spec lines up with Phantom Blade Zero: 4K/60 with path tracing calls for an RTX 5080 paired with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D or Core i9-13900K and 24GB of RAM. An SSD is required, and Windows 10 is not supported.
WHAT TIER FITS YOUR MONITOR
Put those spec sheets side by side and a pattern jumps out. Here's how we'd map October's requirements to the screen on your desk.
| Monitor | GPU Class | What the Specs Say |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | RTX 5060 / RTX 3060 Ti / RX 6700 XT class | Clears the recommended tier in all three games |
| 1440p | RTX 5070 up to RTX 5070 Ti / RX 9070 XT | Recommended tiers with plenty of room for higher refresh and ray tracing |
| 4K | RTX 5070 Ti / RX 9070 XT, or RTX 5080 for path tracing | Gears Ultra 4K/60 and MW4 ray tracing tier; 5080 for path-traced 4K/60 |
1080p: If you're on a 1080p screen, the good news is you're covered by the "recommended" column in every game this month. A card in the RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 5060 class with 16GB of system RAM checks the box. Don't let anyone talk you into a flagship for a 1080p monitor.
1440p: Gears targets 1440p/60 on High with a 3060 Ti-class card, but most 1440p gamers are running 144Hz or faster panels. That's where stepping up to the RTX 5070 or 5070 Ti makes sense: the extra headroom goes toward frame rate and ray tracing instead of just hitting 60. We compared those two cards head to head in RTX 5070 Ti vs 5070.
4K: Two of the three games name the RTX 5070 Ti (or the RX 9070 XT on the AMD side) for their top non-path-traced tier. Path tracing at 4K/60 is RTX 5080 territory in both Phantom Blade Zero and The Witcher 3 Remastered. Upscaling helps a lot here, which is why DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4 support matters.
THE SWEET SPOT: RTX 5070 TI / RX 9070 XT
This is the class that shows up in the top or near-top tier of every spec sheet this month. With 16GB of VRAM, it handles 1440p high-refresh comfortably, covers Gears' 4K Ultra and MW4's ray tracing tier, and leaves room for whatever 2027 brings. It's the card in our Wrangler, which pairs it with 32GB of DDR5, matching MW4's ray tracing RAM spec.
UPDATE YOUR DRIVERS BEFORE LAUNCH DAY
All three GPU makers have day-one support out already, so there's no reason to launch Gears on an old driver:
- NVIDIA GeForce 617.14 WHQL (September 22): Game Ready support for Gears of War: E-Day and The Witcher 3 Remastered.
- AMD Adrenalin 26.9.2 (September 29): support for Gears of War: E-Day, The Witcher 3 Remastered and MW4 campaign early access.
- Intel Arc 32.0.101.9034 beta: adds Gears of War: E-Day support.
Do a clean install if you've been stacking driver updates for a while. It takes five minutes and rules out a whole category of launch-week crashes.
OUR TAKE
October's lineup is good news for most PC gamers. The baseline across all three releases is an RTX 3060 Ti-class card, which means plenty of existing rigs will run these games just fine. If your PC already clears that bar and has TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot on, update your drivers and enjoy the month.
If you're building new, the RTX 5070 Ti / RX 9070 XT tier is where we'd land. It hits the top tier in Gears and MW4, it's the right match for a 1440p high-refresh or 4K monitor, and 32GB of RAM keeps you clear of MW4's ray tracing requirement. The RTX 5080 is only worth the jump if path-traced 4K is the whole point. Either way, you can spec it exactly how you want in our Custom Builder.
READY FOR OCTOBER?
Tell us your monitor and the games you play, and we'll spec a rig that fits. Or start from the Wrangler and make it yours in the configurator.
BUILD YOURS SEE THE WRANGLERSOURCES
- KitGuru: Gears of War: E-Day PC system requirements
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 PC tech specs and features
- Wccftech: Phantom Blade Zero PC requirements
- TechPowerUp: The Witcher 3 Remastered PC requirements
- TechPowerUp: NVIDIA GeForce 617.14 WHQL
- TechSpot: AMD Adrenalin 26.9.2
- Neowin: Intel Arc driver adds Gears of War: E-Day support