Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 – Minimum PC Specs Revealed

Treyarch has officially released the minimum system requirements for the PC version of its upcoming action title "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2". However, the bad news is that Windows XP is not officially supported.

Treyarch released the minimum PC specs on the game's community site to placate users who are worried about the game's compatibility- and hardware-related issues. The company stated that the game has been "tested extensively on a variety of hardware" and Treyarch is "very confident in the performance even at the minimum specs".

While the game will not support the popular Microsoft Windows XP, it has been revealed that the "Black Ops 2" engine builds on the original "Black Ops" engine with a number of improvements on board, which include performance optimizations, enhanced graphics, and proprietary anti-cheat technology.

As far as performance optimization is concerned, Treyarch assured its fans that performance "has been a top priority for Black Ops II PC from day one and we have achieved significant improvements. We've improved the way the engine handles multiple threads."

Additionally, the game's engine has been moved from DX9 to DX11. This shift has happened because the DX11 API is leaner than DX9 and requires less CPU time to do the same amount of work. What's more, the DX9 to DX11 movement also benefits the entire range of supported GPUs, and not just DX11 hardware.

"We have also added more 'quality vs performance' options than ever before so you can customize your experience to either run faster or to satisfy your taste in eye candy," states the community site.

The enhanced graphics for the PC version of the game include enhanced lighting, shadows, antialiasing, bloom, depth of field, ambient occlusion, and other improved effects that are still in the works. Also, the game can run at "higher resolutions and higher framerates on the PC."

Check out the minimum system requirements below.