Borderlands 3 PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum CPU for Borderlands 3 is an AMD FX-8350 or Intel i5-3570. Both are quad-core chips from roughly a decade ago and sit near the older end of the entry tier. The minimum GPU is an AMD Radeon HD 7970 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2 GB, which are also early-generation cards. The minimum asks for 6 GB of RAM and 75 GB of storage, and does not require an SSD.
The recommended tier is noticeably higher. It lists an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 or Intel i7-4770 as the CPU, an AMD Radeon RX 590 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB as the GPU, and 16 GB of RAM. By our tier comparison, the recommended GPU sits around the mainstream 1080p class, and the recommended CPU is an older mainstream part. In practical terms, a PC that meets the recommended tier should run the game at the settings the publisher expects, while a PC that only meets the minimum will usually need more conservative settings.
Storage is 75 GB at both levels, so moving to the recommended tier does not change your disk requirement. The publisher does not describe expected performance above the recommended tier, so if you want higher settings or more headroom, you will need to judge that yourself using the builds below.
The storage figure is the listed requirement and does not account for future updates, so leave some extra space free.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build suits players on a tighter budget who are aiming at 1080p. A low-power card such as the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB paired with a six-core CPU like the AMD Ryzen 5 3500X and 16 GB of RAM clears the recommended tier comfortably. The GPU is the part most likely to become the limit when effects are heavy, so this build is best run at medium-to-high settings rather than maxed out.
The mainstream build is the best value for most players. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8GB or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT gives a stable margin above the recommended tier at 1080p and keeps options like ray tracing or upscaling available. Pair it with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i5-10400 and 16 GB of RAM, which leaves room for the game alongside a browser, voice chat and other background software.
The high build is for players who want 1440p or higher and steady performance over long sessions. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, with an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X or Intel Core i7-11700K, will do this. 32 GB of RAM gives more comfort for multitasking and later upgrades. The point of this tier is not just to beat the recommended tier, but to have room to turn on the more demanding settings.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In an open, enemy-heavy shooter-looter like Borderlands 3, the settings that usually cost the most are shadow quality, volumetric fog and lighting, depth of field, reflections, and the density of crowds and physics simulation. Shadows and volumetric effects are often the most expensive, so start by lowering those rather than textures and main materials. Texture quality mostly affects how much VRAM the game uses, and with enough VRAM, keeping textures high rarely causes a large cost.
Anti-aliasing depends on your monitor resolution. At 1080p, a good anti-aliasing setting noticeably smooths edges, while at higher resolutions you can reduce it a bit to gain headroom.
If your GPU supports an upscaler such as NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR or Intel XeSS, these generally render at a lower internal resolution and reconstruct the image at your target resolution. The trade-off is a balance between fine detail and stability. Which upscaler versions this game supports is not specified in our data, so check the in-game options menu for what is actually available.
Laptops and handheld PCs
A laptop GPU shares a name with a desktop card but is not the same chip in practice. Laptop versions usually run with lower power limits and have less room for cooling, so real performance is often below the desktop version. Do not judge a laptop by the model name alone. Check the GPU's power rating and the cooling design, and keep an eye on power-mode settings if performance differs a lot between plugged-in and battery use.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally depend more heavily on overall power and thermal limits. These machines work best with lower resolution and lower graphics presets, using the built-in performance tuning options to balance performance against battery life. We have no Steam Deck verification data, so we cannot state a specific compatibility conclusion for it. Community settings experience is a reasonable reference.
Storage and memory
For memory, the official minimum is 6 GB and the recommended is 16 GB. 16 GB is a sensible starting point, letting the game and background programs run without leaning heavily on the disk for virtual memory. A dual-channel configuration, with two sticks in the correct slots, usually gives steadier performance than single-channel, which matters for overall system balance. If you stream or keep many browser tabs open, 32 GB gives more headroom.
For storage, the official requirement is 75 GB. After installation, the game plus updates may need more than that, so leave extra space and do not fill the drive close to capacity. An SSD is not an official requirement, but it noticeably shortens loading and map transitions, which is worth it if you move between areas often. On a tight budget, installing the game on an SSD matters more than putting everything there.