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The best way to improve Borderlands 3 on PC is to identify the bottleneck before lowering settings. Check GPU, CPU, VRAM, RAM, temperatures, storage and power usage; then test DX11 and DX12, reduce the settings that affect your specific limit, disable overlays, verify the installation and reset corrupted configuration files if necessary.
First, identify what “run better” means
Different symptoms need different fixes:
- Low average FPS: usually indicates a GPU, resolution or CPU limitation.
- Stutter or hitching: points more often to frame-time spikes, shader or asset streaming, storage, memory pressure, drivers, overlays or CPU workload.
- Drops during combat: can be caused by effects, volumetric fog, shadows or CPU-heavy scene processing.
- Pauses when entering areas: may involve asset streaming, a hard disk, RAM or VRAM pressure, or shader compilation.
- Crashes or failure to launch: are more commonly related to the renderer, drivers, corrupted files, overlays or configuration.
- Laptop-only slowdowns: are frequently caused by battery operation, power limits, hybrid graphics or overheating.
Measure average FPS and frame-time behavior in the same area before and after each change. A high average FPS does not guarantee smooth gameplay if frame times contain frequent spikes.
Check whether your PC is powerful enough
Gearbox’s official Borderlands 3 requirements list the following hardware:
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| Tier | CPU | GPU | RAM | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | AMD FX-8350 or Intel i5-3570 | Radeon HD 7970 or GTX 680 with 2 GB VRAM | 6 GB | 75 GB |
| Recommended | Ryzen 5 2600 or Intel i7-4770 | Radeon RX 590 or GTX 1060 with 6 GB VRAM | 16 GB | 75 GB |
These are older published requirements, not a guarantee of a particular FPS, graphics preset or frame-time consistency. The support page labels the tiers for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it does not promise 60 FPS, 144 FPS or a specific quality level. Steam also lists DX11 under its minimum requirements and DX12 under recommended requirements; that does not make DX12 universally faster.
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Check your hardware in Windows Task Manager, System Information or a trusted monitoring tool. Record the CPU model, GPU model, GPU utilization, per-core CPU activity, VRAM usage, system RAM usage, temperatures, clock speeds, drive type, free storage, display resolution and refresh rate. On a laptop, also record whether the game is running on AC power.
Use the measurements to find the bottleneck
| What you observe | Likely limitation | Try first |
|---|---|---|
| GPU stays around 95–100% while the CPU has headroom | GPU | Lower resolution scale, volumetric fog, shadows or reflections. |
| GPU usage is low but one or more CPU cores are heavily loaded | CPU | Reduce foliage, view distance and effects; use a sustainable FPS cap. |
| VRAM is nearly full | VRAM or texture pressure | Lower texture quality or resolution. |
| RAM is nearly full and disk activity spikes | System memory or streaming | Close applications and check storage and page-file space. |
| Average FPS is high but frame times spike | Stutter rather than raw rendering speed | Test the other renderer, disable overlays and inspect drivers, storage, memory and thermals. |
| Performance worsens after several minutes | Thermal or power throttling | Check temperatures, clocks, fans and the power profile. |
These observations are diagnostic clues, not absolute rules. A game can move between CPU and GPU limits depending on the area, resolution and combat intensity.
Apply the highest-impact graphics changes first
Begin with a controlled baseline rather than immediately selecting the lowest preset:
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
- Use Fullscreen or Borderless, then compare them if the problem persists.
- Turn V-Sync off while diagnosing raw performance. Re-enable it later if tearing is unacceptable.
- Start at native resolution and change resolution scale only when the GPU is the bottleneck.
- Set a frame-rate cap below the FPS your system reaches in demanding fights, not the peak it achieves in empty areas.
- Keep texture quality as high as your VRAM allows, lowering it when VRAM is saturated or texture streaming causes hitching.
Change one group of settings at a time and retest the same scene.
Recommended order for more FPS
- Resolution or resolution scale: this usually provides the largest GPU-side improvement, at the cost of image sharpness. If GPU usage is low, lowering it may accomplish little.
- Volumetric fog: reduce this early when outdoor scenes or combat produce GPU-heavy drops.
- Shadows: lower them from the highest setting for a broad performance improvement.
- Screen-space reflections: reduce or disable them if reflective surfaces cause spikes.
- Ambient occlusion: reduce it when the GPU is heavily loaded.
- Foliage and view distance: reduce these when CPU load, open areas or streaming are the problem.
- Textures: lower them primarily to relieve VRAM pressure, not as the first response to every FPS problem.
Motion blur and chromatic aberration can be disabled for a clearer image, but they are generally not major performance fixes. Anisotropic filtering is often relatively inexpensive and can usually remain high. Menu names and available options can vary by patch, edition, renderer and display configuration.
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Use a frame cap deliberately
An uncapped frame rate that fluctuates heavily can feel worse than a lower cap the PC can sustain. Choose a cap based on your monitor and measured performance; there is no universal 60, 120 or 144 FPS setting. NVIDIA’s FrameView guide explains that V-Sync can tie output to the display refresh rate and that frame caps can also limit output.
Test DX11 and DX12 separately
There is no renderer that is best for every PC. DX12 may perform better on some modern systems, while DX11 may be more stable on others. Community reports are mixed, so treat renderer switching as a controlled experiment rather than a guaranteed FPS fix.
- Change the graphics API in Borderlands 3’s video settings.
- Restart the game.
- Load the same save and visit the same type of area.
- Play through movement and combat for a consistent test.
- Compare average FPS, frame-time spikes, hitching and crashes.
- Keep the renderer that is smoothest and most reliable on your system.
Start with DX11 if DX12 crashes at launch, produces D3D12 errors, became unstable after switching, or the PC is older. Test DX12 if DX11 leaves the GPU underused or has persistent hitching on a modern, fully updated system. If DX12 prevents the game from reaching the menu, return to DX11 through the game settings if possible; otherwise use the configuration recovery procedure below.
Update Windows and the graphics driver
Install Windows updates and obtain the graphics driver from the manufacturer rather than from a third-party driver-updater utility:
A newer driver can fix a game-specific issue, but it can also introduce a regression. If the problem began immediately after an update, note the driver version and consider using the manufacturer’s supported rollback process. Borderlands support also recommends updating video drivers and trying an earlier version when a newer one causes trouble.
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Disable overlays and background applications
Temporarily close or disable the following while testing:
- Steam or Epic Games overlays
- Discord overlay
- Xbox Game Bar and background recording
- NVIDIA or AMD performance overlays
- Browser windows playing hardware-accelerated video
- RGB-control, capture, monitoring or overclocking utilities
- Other launchers, downloads or scans running in the background
This is a diagnostic step, not a permanent requirement. Overlays are useful for monitoring, but they can add overhead or instability in some configurations. If disabling one fixes the problem, re-enable tools individually to identify the conflict.
Make sure the game uses the dedicated GPU
This matters especially on gaming laptops. In Windows, open Settings → System → Display → Graphics, locate or add Borderlands3.exe, choose Options, select High performance, save and restart the game. Labels can differ by Windows version and hardware.
Confirm the result with Task Manager or a trusted monitoring tool rather than assuming the setting worked. Also test on AC power, use a performance-oriented Windows power mode and enable the laptop manufacturer’s performance profile if available. Keep vents unobstructed and use a hard surface. Avoid blindly changing BIOS settings or forcing maximum performance globally.
Verify the game files
File verification can repair damaged or mismatched installation files without requiring a complete reinstall.
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Epic Games Launcher
- Open Epic Games Launcher and select Library.
- Find Borderlands 3 and click its three-dot menu.
- Select Manage.
- Click Verify and wait for the process to finish.
Epic explains its verification process here and states that verification replaces differing files without affecting saved data.
Steam
- Open Steam and select Library.
- Right-click Borderlands 3 and choose Properties.
- Open Installed Files.
- Select Verify integrity of game files.
Some older Steam documentation uses the label Local Files; it refers to the same general area.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Reset the configuration safely
Reset settings if graphics changes do not stick, the game crashes after a display or renderer change, or performance suddenly worsens. This is an advanced recovery step, and the path below is commonly reported by the community rather than confirmed in the retrieved official Borderlands 3 support material.
- Close the game and launcher.
- Back up the configuration directory.
- Rename it instead of deleting it immediately.
- Launch the game and let it create fresh settings.
- Reapply graphics settings gradually.
The commonly reported location is:
%USERPROFILE%DocumentsMy GamesBorderlands 3SavedConfigWindowsNoEditorA commonly referenced file is GameUserSettings.ini. Community reports also mention PreferredGraphicsAPI as a possible renderer preference. If DX12 prevents startup, back up the file and change the renderer preference to DX11 only if that setting is present. If the game regenerates the file, use the new file rather than copying the entire old configuration back.
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Fix stutter that remains at low settings
If lowering every setting does not remove hitching, the problem may not be GPU rendering load. Work through these possibilities:
- Renderer: compare DX11 and DX12 using the same scene.
- Frame times: look for CPU spikes rather than focusing only on average FPS.
- Storage: moving the game from a hard disk to an SSD may improve loading and asset-streaming behavior, but it will not turn an underpowered GPU into a faster one.
- Memory: close browsers and recording software if RAM is full. Moving from 8 GB to 16 GB is sensible when capacity is consistently exhausted, but more RAM is not a universal stutter cure.
- VRAM: lower textures or resolution if video memory is nearly full.
- Thermals: check whether temperatures rise while GPU or CPU clocks fall.
- Background activity: pause downloads and check antivirus scans, updates and recording tools.
- Drivers and overlays: compare the current driver with the previous known-good version and test with overlays disabled.
What not to try first
Community guides sometimes suggest launch commands such as -NOTEXTURESTREAMING, -high or -USEALLAVAILABLECORES. The retrieved official sources do not establish these as universal fixes. They can increase memory use, cause instability or make the underlying problem harder to diagnose. Do not use them before basic measurements, and avoid unofficial DLL packs, registry cleaners, “FPS booster” utilities, paid driver-updater subscriptions and downloaded configuration files.
If you experiment with an unofficial command despite the risks, use only one at a time, record the original launcher setting and remove it immediately if crashes, memory pressure or worse frame times appear.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallWhen is a hardware upgrade justified?
- Upgrade the GPU when it remains near 95–100% utilization at your desired resolution and the settings changes you can tolerate are not enough.
- Upgrade RAM when system memory is consistently exhausted and storage activity rises during play. Confirm desktop or laptop compatibility first.
- Move to an SSD when loading or asset-streaming pauses are the main complaint. Expect a potential streaming improvement, not a guaranteed FPS increase.
- Upgrade the CPU or platform when GPU utilization remains low while CPU frame times limit performance, especially in busy combat or open areas.
If the PC is below the official minimum, no settings tweak can guarantee a smooth result. If it meets the recommended specification but performs poorly, remember that those requirements are older broad targets, not a promise for a particular modern resolution, refresh rate, preset or FPS.
Quick Recap
Quick troubleshooting order
- Plug in a laptop and select a performance-oriented power mode.
- Update Windows and the GPU driver, noting the current driver version.
- Disable overlays, recording and unnecessary background applications.
- Check that Borderlands 3 uses the dedicated GPU.
- Measure GPU, CPU, VRAM, RAM, temperatures, clocks and frame times.
- Lower resolution scale, volumetric fog, shadows and reflections when the GPU is the limit.
- Lower foliage, view distance and effects when CPU frame times are the limit.
- Test DX11 and DX12 independently and keep the more stable renderer.
- Verify files through Steam or Epic.
- Back up and reset the configuration if settings or the renderer are corrupted.
- Consider hardware only after confirming the bottleneck.
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