For smoother DMZ play, first let shader preloading finish, then cap the game at a frame rate your system can sustain. Use Dynamic Resolution or DLSS—not both—lower shadows, reflections, volumetric effects and particles before reducing texture quality, and choose Minimal or Optimized texture streaming according to your internet connection. Test one change at a time while watching frame-time consistency rather than average FPS alone.
The settings below are designed to reduce stutter and frame-time spikes without making distant targets unnecessarily blurry. Menu names and available options can change between DMZ/MWII builds, so treat the labels as the current options your installation exposes.
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Start with this smoother-DMZ baseline
Apply the following order before fine-tuning individual sliders:
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- Open DMZ and remain on the main menu until shader preloading is complete. Repeat after a major game or driver update.
- Update Windows and your graphics driver, then close or temporarily exclude background software that hooks into games, records video or overlays notifications.
- Set a frame-rate target your PC can hold in the busiest area you normally play. If your build offers Dynamic Resolution, use it to maintain that target.
- If you have a GeForce RTX card, test DLSS Quality first at 1080p or 1440p. Move to Balanced, Performance or Ultra Performance only when the GPU remains the bottleneck.
- Do not enable Dynamic Resolution and DLSS together; the official Call of Duty/NVIDIA guidance treats them as mutually exclusive.
- Lower shadow quality, screen-space reflections, volumetric lighting or fog, and particle detail before lowering textures.
- Set On-Demand High Quality Streaming to Minimal on a constrained or unstable connection, or Optimized when bandwidth is plentiful and texture fidelity matters. Let its cache populate before judging hitching.
This sequence targets the causes most likely to produce uneven frame delivery while preserving texture detail where your video memory allows it.
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Why shader preloading comes first
Shader compilation can cause pauses while the game prepares effects for your hardware. Activision describes Shader Preloading as “an important part of the first boot process.” Its PC troubleshooting guidance also warns that “Navigating out of the Main Menu will cause the preloading to stop and can lead to performance issues.”
Correct first-boot procedure
- Launch the game after installation or a substantial update.
- Stay on the main menu; do not enter DMZ, switch modes, or close the game while the shader-preload indicator is active.
- Wait for the process to report completion, then restart the game if the build requests it.
- Repeat the wait after major patches, graphics-driver changes or a reset of the shader cache.
Interrupting this process can leave later matches compiling effects in the background, which feels like random stutter even when your average frame rate looks adequate. If hitching begins immediately after an update, repeat the complete preload before changing every graphics option.
Remove common software conflicts
Keep Windows and the GPU driver current while troubleshooting. Temporarily close overlays, capture utilities, hardware monitors and other background programs that inject into the game. If the problem disappears, re-enable those programs one at a time to identify the conflict rather than permanently lowering image quality.
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Choose a frame-rate strategy: Dynamic Resolution or DLSS
A stable frame time generally feels smoother than a higher but constantly fluctuating FPS counter. Pick one scaling strategy, establish a sustainable target and judge it in the same demanding area of DMZ.
Dynamic Resolution for a fixed performance target
Dynamic Resolution automatically raises or lowers the internal render resolution at runtime to maintain the frame-rate target you set. It is useful when the GPU load changes sharply between open terrain, dense interiors, smoke and firefights. The image becomes softer when the engine needs more headroom and recovers detail when load falls.
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Choose a target below the peak FPS you see in an empty area. A target that survives your heaviest scene produces steadier 1% lows and fewer visible resolution swings than an ambitious target that the system repeatedly misses. The exact target depends on your monitor and hardware; the official guidance does not publish a universal FPS percentage or guarantee.
DLSS modes on GeForce RTX hardware
DLSS is intended for GeForce RTX GPUs. The official Call of Duty/NVIDIA documentation lists four modes:
| DLSS mode | Rendering trade-off | When to test it |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | Highest image quality among the listed DLSS modes, with a smaller performance gain than more aggressive modes | First choice at 1080p or 1440p when you are GPU-limited |
| Balanced | Middle ground between sharpness and GPU workload | When Quality does not hold your target in heavy scenes |
| Performance | Lower internal resolution for a larger performance trade-off | When the GPU remains the limiting component after Balanced |
| Ultra Performance | Most aggressive internal-resolution reduction and the greatest image-quality compromise | Only when you need substantial GPU headroom and accept visibly softer detail |
These names describe the quality/performance trade-off, not a guaranteed gain on every RTX model. Compare distant foliage, building edges and moving targets at your monitor’s native resolution; a nominally faster mode is not an improvement if it makes identification harder.
Why you should not combine DLSS and Dynamic Resolution
Both systems alter render resolution. The official Call of Duty/NVIDIA guidance states that they are mutually exclusive. If you select DLSS, disable Dynamic Resolution; if you use Dynamic Resolution to hold a target, use the game’s native-resolution path instead of DLSS.
Options for non-NVIDIA GPUs
Readers without RTX hardware should use the upscaling or resolution option exposed by their current build. Compare the available choices using the same test route and keep the one with the most consistent frame times and acceptable clarity. Do not assume that a setting name or mode from another GPU vendor exists in your installation.
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Lower expensive effects before textures
When the GPU is overloaded, reduce effects that are recalculated across the scene before sacrificing texture detail. This is practical tuning guidance rather than a published Activision benchmark, so verify each change with your own frame-time graph.
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Shadows
Shadow quality can be expensive in outdoor areas and during rapidly changing lighting. Lower it one step, then test a familiar route with buildings, foliage and interiors. Watch for crawling or overly blocky shadows; if they become distracting, restore the previous level and reduce another effect instead.
Screen-space reflections
Reflections on wet floors, glass and metallic surfaces consume GPU time and can create spikes when the camera turns quickly. Reducing this setting usually affects reflective detail more than target visibility, making it a useful early compromise.
Volumetric lighting and fog
Volumetric effects process light through smoke, fog and atmospheric volumes. They are particularly costly in weather or combat scenes with many particles. Lower them when frame times spike around haze, dust or interiors filled with smoke, and check that silhouettes remain readable.
Particle detail
Explosions, debris and impact effects can produce short bursts of work. Reducing particle detail can smooth firefights without making static surfaces blurry. Test while throwing equipment or observing another player’s gunfire so you evaluate the setting under load.
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Texture quality and VRAM headroom
Textures primarily consume video memory and storage bandwidth rather than behaving like a simple frame-rate slider. Keep them as high as your VRAM headroom permits; dropping them too far can make surfaces and targets visibly blurry even when the FPS counter rises. If you see texture pop-in, late-loading surfaces or hitching while turning, lower texture quality or streaming demand only after checking the cache and drive conditions.
Set texture streaming to match your connection
On-Demand High Quality Streaming offers two documented choices in Blizzard’s description:
| Mode | Bandwidth and fidelity behavior | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Optimized | Higher-fidelity assets with greater bandwidth use | Stable, plentiful internet bandwidth when texture fidelity is a priority |
| Minimal | Lower bandwidth use with reduced texture quality | Constrained, metered or unstable connections |
Select Minimal if other devices share the connection, your service has a data cap, or streaming causes network-related hitching. Select Optimized when bandwidth is reliable and you want the highest available streamed texture fidelity. After changing the mode, allow the cache to finish populating; judging performance while assets are still being downloaded can mistake normal cache activity for a permanent graphics problem.
Separate network stutter from rendering stutter
Streaming-related pauses often coincide with asset downloads or visible texture replacement, while rendering limits show up as sustained GPU frame-time increases during complex scenes. Test with the streaming cache settled, then compare the same route offline from the network-heavy activity. This does not prove a universal cause, but it helps you decide whether to adjust streaming mode or graphics effects.
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The official DMZ/MWII listing specifies these baseline requirements:
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| Component | Minimum or recommended specification |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 64-bit |
| Graphics API | DirectX 12 |
| Minimum GPU class | GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon RX 470 class |
| Recommended GPU class | GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 580 class |
| Available storage | 125 GB |
The Battle.net specification page also lists optional space for a high-resolution asset cache. Reserve that capacity if you choose high-quality streamed assets; running close to a full drive can complicate cache creation and updates.
Why a fast NVMe SSD can help without promising more FPS
Installing the game and its cache on a 1TB NVMe SSD provides room for the 125 GB installation, updates and optional high-resolution assets. It can improve loading and asset-cache behavior when the existing drive is slow or nearly full. The available official material does not establish a universal FPS uplift from moving DMZ to an SSD, so treat it as a storage and consistency upgrade rather than a guaranteed frame-rate upgrade.
Check the bottleneck before buying hardware
- If GPU usage stays near its limit while CPU usage has headroom, use Dynamic Resolution or a less aggressive DLSS mode and reduce GPU-heavy effects.
- If frame times spike while textures stream or the drive is nearly full, address storage space, cache completion and streaming mode first.
- If neither component is saturated but hitching remains, repeat shader preloading and test background software conflicts before replacing hardware.
Use frame-time consistency as your test standard
Average FPS hides the short drops that feel like stutter. Use an in-game performance display, driver overlay or frame-time graph if available, and watch 1% lows when your tool reports them.
A repeatable test loop
- Choose one map section with the same weather, time-of-day and route each run.
- Finish shader preloading and let texture streaming settle before recording a baseline.
- Change one setting or one related group, then restart the run from the same location.
- Record sustained FPS, 1% lows or frame-time spikes, input feel and image clarity at your normal resolution.
- Keep the change only if it reduces hitching without making targets or critical geometry unacceptably soft.
No controlled, universal DMZ benchmark is published by the authoritative material, so a setting that helps one GPU, resolution or connection may not help another. Your goal is repeatable frame delivery in the situations where you actually lose smoothness.
Troubleshoot by symptom
Stutter begins after an update
- Return to the main menu and complete shader preloading without navigating away.
- Restart the game after the preload completes.
- Confirm Windows and the graphics driver are current.
- Run the same route with overlays and capture software disabled.
FPS is acceptable, but firefights hitch
- Lower shadows, volumetric lighting or fog, reflections and particle detail one at a time.
- Check 1% lows or frame-time spikes rather than average FPS.
- Keep textures at a level that fits VRAM; lowering them first can reduce clarity without addressing the expensive effect.
Textures pop in or the game pauses while turning
- Verify the texture-streaming cache has finished populating.
- Use Minimal streaming on a constrained or unstable connection.
- Free space on the installation drive and, if it is slow or nearly full, consider moving the game and cache to a fast NVMe SSD.
- Only after those checks, reduce texture quality if VRAM pressure persists.
The image is too soft after enabling an upscaler
On RTX hardware, move from Ultra Performance to Performance, Balanced or Quality in that order until clarity is acceptable. If you are using Dynamic Resolution, lower the target slightly rather than combining it with DLSS. At 1080p, aggressive modes can make fine distant detail especially difficult to read.
Frame rate swings between areas
Use Dynamic Resolution with a sustainable target, or select a less aggressive DLSS mode if you are GPU-limited. Test the target in the heaviest area you routinely enter rather than in an empty corridor. A lower, stable target is preferable to a high cap that repeatedly collapses during combat.
Practical decision guide
| Your situation | First setting to try | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| RTX GPU, GPU-limited at 1080p or 1440p | DLSS Quality | Target clarity on distant objects and frame-time consistency |
| RTX GPU, Quality misses the target | DLSS Balanced, then Performance if necessary | Whether the extra headroom is worth softer detail |
| Large swings between light and heavy scenes | Dynamic Resolution with a sustainable target | Resolution changes and 1% lows; keep DLSS disabled |
| Limited or unstable internet | Texture Streaming: Minimal | Bandwidth use, cache completion and texture pop-in |
| Plentiful, stable bandwidth | Texture Streaming: Optimized | Higher streamed fidelity after the cache settles |
| GPU-heavy firefights | Lower shadows, reflections, volumetrics and particles | Frame-time spikes without sacrificing texture readability |
What these settings cannot guarantee
Neither Activision nor the Call of Duty/NVIDIA guidance supplies a universal FPS percentage for these options. Results vary with GPU model, resolution, driver, VRAM, system memory, storage speed, background software, map conditions and network activity. Use the official hardware classes as a compatibility floor, then tune for stable frame times on your own system.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →The most reliable order is therefore procedural: complete shaders, stabilize the frame-rate target, choose one upscaling path, reduce expensive effects, match streaming to bandwidth, and verify every change with repeatable frame-time tests. This avoids chasing a higher average FPS while leaving the short stalls that make DMZ feel uneven.
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