Borderlands 4 has officially landed on Kairos, and the chaos is everything fans hoped for—billions of guns, bigger open zones, and that trademark Gearbox humor. But behind the mayhem, PC players are running into a different kind of firefight: crippling frame-rate drops, random crashes, and loading screens that feel longer than a Claptrap monologue.
If you’re staring at stutters instead of loot, this guide rounds up the real problems players are reporting, the community-tested fixes that actually work, and what to expect as Gearbox rolls out hotfixes in the coming weeks.
1. Launch Day Reality Check: What’s Breaking Players’ PCs
Borderlands 4 debuted to huge player numbers but a rough first impression—Steam reviews sank to “Mostly Negative” before inching up to “Mixed.” Across Reddit and the official forums, complaints echo the same pain points:
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Severe FPS Drops & Stutter: Even high-end rigs choke during firefights and wide-open zones. RTX 3080 Ti owners report 30 FPS at 1440p; RX 6900 XT users can’t hold 60 FPS on Low with FSR.
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Crashes to Desktop: Frequent “Application Hang Detected” or Unreal Engine errors.
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Infinite Loading Screens: Players get stuck on black screens or endless spinners before even spawning in.
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Shader Compilation Stutters: The game re-compiles shaders for up to 10 minutes on first boot—and every time you change graphics settings.
Early benchmarks show even an RTX 5090 with a Ryzen 9 9950X3D can dip to 60–80 FPS at 1440p with DLSS on. In short: no rig is truly safe.
2. Quick Fixes That Actually Work
🔧 Step 1: Update Drivers & Verify Files
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NVIDIA: Install Game Ready Driver 581.29+ (clean install recommended).
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AMD: Grab the latest Adrenalin release.
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Verify Game Files
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Steam: Right-click Borderlands 4 → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity.
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Epic Games: Click the three dots next to the game → Manage → Verify.
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🔧 Step 2: Clear Shader Cache
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NVIDIA:
Win + R→%LOCALAPPDATA%\NVIDIA\DXCache→ delete files >10 MB. -
AMD: Adrenalin → Gaming → Graphics → Reset Shader Cache.
🔧 Step 3: Kill Overlays & Conflicts
Disable Steam Overlay, Discord Overlay, GeForce Experience, MSI Afterburner, and any third-party screen capture tools.
🔧 Step 4: Baseline Settings for Stability
| Setting | Recommended | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Graphics Preset | Custom/Low | Gives a stable baseline to tune upward later. |
| Upscaling (DLSS/FSR) | Performance | Big FPS gains with minimal image loss. |
| Frame Generation | Off | Reduces input lag and random instability. |
| Volumetric Clouds | Low | One of the biggest FPS drains. |
| Shadows | Low | Heavy CPU/GPU hit. |
| Reflections | Low | Skip costly raytracing passes. |
| Motion Blur | Off | Sharper visuals, slight performance win. |
🔧 Step 5: Advanced Tweaks
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Run as Admin: Right-click the game’s .exe → Run as administrator.
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Whitelist in Antivirus/Firewall.
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Force DX11: Add
-dx11to Steam/Epic launch options for more stable performance. -
Use an SSD: HDD installs guarantee stutters and long loads—move the game if needed.
3. Known Issues Acknowledged by Gearbox
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Intel 13th/14th Gen Instability: Intel recommends BIOS updates or power-setting tweaks.
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Missing Xbox Deluxe DLC: Super Deluxe owners may see missing bonus content—Gearbox is investigating.
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Day-One Patch (2.7 GB): Reduces crash frequency—double-check you’re updated.
4. What’s Next: Patch Roadmap
Based on past Borderlands launches and official statements:
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Frequent Hotfixes: Small patches for top-priority crashes.
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Major Optimization Update: Expect a bigger CPU/GPU performance patch within weeks.
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Driver Support: NVIDIA and AMD will keep releasing Borderlands-specific driver updates—stay current.
If you can tolerate some turbulence, the underlying game is being hailed as the best in the series. More cautious players might wait a few weeks for stability.
💎 Key Takeaways
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Widespread issues affect even high-end PCs—you’re not alone.
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Follow the fix order: Drivers → Verify → Shader Cache → Overlays → Settings.
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SSD isn’t optional.
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Intel 13th/14th Gen users should update BIOS.
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Patches are rolling out fast—keep game and drivers up to date.
🛠️ Community Links & Resources
Official Borderlands Forums
Join discussions, share your PC specs, and swap performance tweaks with fellow Vault Hunters.Borderlands Subreddit
A huge community for build theorycrafting, bug reports, and hardware optimization chat.Gearbox Support
Submit tickets for technical issues or game-breaking bugs.
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