Borderlands 4's PC system requirements are quite demanding

The long-anticipated Borderlands 4 has made headlines this week for its unexpected price tag, but also for its PC system requirements, which may prove to be a serious hurdle for lower-end systems. Gearbox and publisher 2K have revealed both the minimum and recommended system specs, and they're far from modest.

Your PC may need an upgrade

To run Borderlands 4 at its bare minimum, players will need an 8-core CPU, either an Intel Core i7-9700 or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, paired with 16 GB of RAM and a GPU on par with an RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT. Additionally, the game demands at least 100 GB of SSD storage and Windows 10 or 11 in 64-bit.

The recommended settings take things even further. Those willing to enjoy Borderlands 4 under optimal conditions will need to have an Intel Core i7-12700 or Ryzen 7 5800X, 32 GB of RAM, and a powerful GPU like the RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT with 12 GB of VRAM. The storage and OS requirements remain the same, with SSD performance seemingly mandatory for smooth play. What's drawing concern among the gaming community is that these specs exclude a large chunk of current PC users, particularly the 8-core CPU minimum. According to recent Steam hardware surveys, more than half of active players still use processors with six cores or fewer, making this one of the most demanding “minimum” spec lists in recent memory.

The push for higher specs appears tied to Borderlands 4 being developed in Unreal Engine 5, which enables cutting-edge lighting and texture systems. While the engine can scale to lower hardware tiers, Gearbox seems to be targeting a very high graphical baseline, possibly to support the game's signature explosive co-op mayhem and dense environments.

Despite the steep requirements, there is still cautious optimism. Some tech analysts believe the official specs may be a conservative estimate to ensure a stable experience. It's possible that players with slightly older CPUs and GPUs will still be able to enjoy the game with reduced settings, though that remains to be seen.

With Borderlands 4 slated for release on September 12, 2025, gamers have a few months to consider hardware upgrades. Remember that if you want to save as much as possible when buying your copy of the game, our comparator can easily provide you with the cheapest Borderlands 4 PC codes.