Borderlands 4 is hitting PCs hard at launch. Even high-end GPUs can struggle at native 4K with everything cranked, while the publisher’s own guidance pegs “minimum” at 1080p/30 on Low and “recommended” at 1440p/60 on Medium. You can confirm those targets on the game’s PC specs and features page. The good news: with a few targeted changes, you can dramatically improve stability and frame pacing without gutting the look.

Before you tweak: lock down the basics

  • Update your GPU driver using the NVIDIA app (Game Ready Driver 581.29 is current as referenced by the studio) or your vendor’s software.
  • After changing graphics options, let shaders recompile. The studio notes performance may settle only after several minutes of play; see the official optimization guide.
  • If you’re on a variable refresh display (G‑Sync/FreeSync), keep V‑Sync Off in-game. If you see tearing on a fixed-refresh panel, turn V‑Sync On.

Two presets that work

Apply one of these as a starting point, then fine-tune in the next section.

  • Display Mode: Windowed Fullscreen
  • Resolution: your native (1440p recommended for mid/high GPUs)
  • Frame cap: Off (or set a Custom FPS Limit to your VRR range)
  • Upscaling Method: DLSS (NVIDIA) / FSR (AMD) / TSR (otherwise)
  • Upscaling Quality: Quality
  • Frame Generation: Off (see the Frame Generation section below)
  • HLOD Loading Range: Far
  • Geometry Quality: Medium
  • Texture Quality: Medium
  • Texture Streaming Speed: Very High
  • Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
  • Foliage Density: Low
  • Volumetric Fog: Low
  • Volumetric Cloud: Low
  • Shadow Quality: Medium
  • Directional Shadow Quality: Medium
  • Volumetric Cloud Shadows: Disabled
  • Lighting Quality: High
  • Reflections Quality: Medium
  • Shading Quality: High
  • Post-Process Quality: High
  • Motion Blur Amount: 0, Motion Blur Quality: Off

Preset B: “Low-end rescue” (for older GPUs or 8GB VRAM)

  • Display Mode: Windowed Fullscreen
  • Resolution: 1080p (or 1440p if you’ll lean on upscaling)
  • Frame cap: On (target 60–90FPS), V‑Sync Off
  • Upscaling Method: DLSS/FSR/TSR
  • Upscaling Quality: Balanced or Performance
  • Frame Generation: Off (only enable if base FPS stays high; details below)
  • HLOD Loading Range: Near
  • Geometry Quality: Medium
  • Texture Quality: Low (raises headroom on 8GB cards)
  • Texture Streaming Speed: Very High
  • Anisotropic Filtering: 2x (or 1x if still VRAM-limited)
  • Foliage Density: Very Low or Off
  • Volumetric Fog: Low
  • Volumetric Cloud: Low
  • Shadow Quality: Low
  • Directional Shadow Quality: Low
  • Volumetric Cloud Shadows: Disabled
  • Lighting Quality: Low
  • Reflections Quality: Low or Medium
  • Shading Quality: Low
  • Post-Process Quality: Low
  • Motion Blur Amount: 0, Motion Blur Quality: Off

Tweaks that actually move the needle

  • Volumetric effects: Fog is a heavy hitter. Keep Volumetric Fog on Low and disable Volumetric Cloud Shadows. Volumetric Cloud itself should stay Low unless you have plenty of GPU headroom.
  • Lighting Quality: This governs the game’s global illumination solution. Dropping from High to Medium or Low can free up a lot of GPU time but will make bounce lighting less stable/accurate in scenes. There’s no true “Off” fallback, so find your lowest acceptable setting and stick with it.
  • Shadows: Shadow Quality and Directional Shadow Quality add up fast. Medium/Low is a sizable win with limited visual penalty in this art style.
  • Textures and VRAM: On 8GB GPUs, set Texture Quality to Low–Medium and reduce Anisotropic Filtering to 2x. Keep Texture Streaming Speed Very High to minimize pop-in while still fitting within VRAM limits.
  • Foliage Density: Pushing this stresses both CPU (draw calls) and GPU (overdraw). Low or Very Low stabilizes open areas.
  • HLOD Loading Range: Near reduces distant object complexity, easing CPU and memory pressure in large zones.
  • Post effects: Turn Motion Blur off entirely; it adds latency and can exaggerate stutter. Leave Post‑Process Quality at Medium/High only if your frame time graph stays flat.

Upscaling and Frame Generation: when to use them

  • DLSS/FSR/TSR: At 1440p, start with Quality. If combat dips below 60FPS, step down to Balanced. At 1080p, avoid going below Balanced unless you can tolerate softer edges; increase sharpening conservatively to avoid shimmering.
  • Frame Generation: Useful for high refresh targets, but treat it as a top-off—not a crutch. Enable only if your native (pre‑FG) frame rate holds ~60FPS or better in busy areas. Expect increased input latency; pair with Reflex (On/Boost) if available to mitigate.

Diagnose where you’re bottlenecked

  • If lowering resolution barely changes FPS, you’re likely CPU‑bound: reduce HLOD Loading Range, Foliage Density, and Shadows first. Slightly reducing Field of View can also help in extreme cases.
  • If FPS scales linearly as you reduce resolution/upscaling quality, you’re GPU‑bound: prioritize the volumetrics, Lighting Quality, Reflections, then step down AA/upscaler quality.

Quick wins and common pitfalls

  • Don’t chase Ultra textures on 8GB GPUs. Even if it fits, it can provoke spikes and streaming hitches.
  • Avoid cranking Volumetric Fog/Clouds; their cost snowballs during effects-heavy encounters.
  • If performance seems unchanged after multiple toggles, play a full encounter or two to allow shader recompilation and caches to settle (the studio explicitly calls this out in its optimization guidance).

Target profiles by goal

  • 1440p/60 on mid/high GPUs: Preset A with DLSS/FSR Quality; drop Shadows to Low and Lighting to Medium if fights still dip.
  • 1080p/60 on older GPUs: Preset B with DLSS/FSR Balanced; keep Textures Low and Foliage Very Low; cap at 60FPS to stabilize frame times.
  • High refresh (120–144Hz): Keep native frame time under ~8ms before Frame Generation; then enable FG to reach your panel’s refresh while preserving responsiveness.

What to expect

  • Shader changes can temporarily worsen performance; let the game run for a bit after big adjustments (officially advised).
  • Cutscenes may display at 30FPS. That won’t reflect your gameplay performance.
  • Patch cadence and driver updates will matter early on. Revisit your upscaler quality and Lighting/Volumetrics after each update.

Quick wins (top 5 settings to fix bottlenecks)

  • Turn Motion Blur off.
  • Set Volumetric Fog to Low and disable Volumetric Cloud Shadows.
  • Use DLSS/FSR Quality (drop to Balanced only if 60FPS isn’t attainable).
  • Set Shadows to Medium (or Low on older CPUs/GPUs).
  • Pick Texture Quality that fits your VRAM (Low–Medium on 8GB cards), keep Texture Streaming Speed Very High.

For official targets, GPU-specific charts, and driver links, the studio’s optimization guide is the best reference alongside the PC specs and features overview. Once patches land, revisit Lighting and Volumetrics first—they’re the biggest levers for reclaiming performance without sacrificing Borderlands’ look.