Borderlands 4 from Gearbox Software has had one of the roughest launches in the series. Many players are running into crashes, freezes, and heavy stuttering—even when their PCs exceed the minimum system requirements.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the game itself is bad, but it does mean performance can be inconsistent. The good news? There are several ways to squeeze out better FPS and check if your rig is ready for BL4.
Simple Ways to Increase FPS in Borderlands 4
Before diving into advanced tweaks, try these quick fixes first:
- Close unnecessary apps. Even lightweight programs can eat into CPU and GPU resources. Avoid multitasking with videos or screen sharing while playing.
- Update your drivers. Keeping GPU drivers up to date can make a big difference.
- Lower your graphics settings. In the Options → Visuals → Advanced tab, set the Graphics Preset to Low for an instant boost.
- Reduce resolution. If you’re on a 4K display, scaling down to 1440p or 1080p can help smooth out gameplay.
If you’re still struggling, you can also enable Frame Generation:
- DLSS for Nvidia cards (available on RTX 40-series only).
- FSR for AMD GPUs.
Unfortunately, older hardware doesn’t benefit from these features, leaving some players waiting for official patches and optimizations.
Why Are Players Experiencing FPS Drops and Crashes?
Borderlands 4 lists its minimum GPU requirements as NVIDIA RTX 2070, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, or Intel Arc A580. On paper, that’s fairly high—but even players with much stronger hardware are still reporting stutters and performance dips.
After testing, it seems the biggest culprits are asset overloads. For example:
- Open-world sections spawning multiple enemies at once.
- Multiplayer sessions where the game has to render extra chaos.
- “Loot explosions” during boss fights, where a flood of random assets loads all at once.
These spikes overwhelm the engine and cause freezes, no matter how powerful your PC is.
Can It Be Fixed?
Right now, performance issues mostly stem from lack of optimization in UE5 (Unreal Engine 5). While lowering settings and adjusting hardware helps, the most effective fix will likely come from future patches and updates.
Borderlands 4 still has plenty of potential, but until Gearbox rolls out improvements, even high-end rigs may struggle with FPS drops.
