Nvidia’s Borderlands 4 DLSS reveal has left us concerned
Nvidia’s DLSS trailer for Borderlands 4 has left us concerned about the game’s performance
At Gamescom, Nvidia announced that Borderlands 4 is now bundled with new RTX 5070 and above graphics cards. To celebrate, Nvidia has released a new “DLSS 4 Reveal” for the game, and the framerates Nvidia’s showing have left us concerned.
Typically, Nvidia’s DLSS trailers aim to showcase the maximum potential framerate gains when showcasing PC games. This often means that DLSS Super Resolution is set to Performance mode and DLSS Frame Generation is set to 4x. This means that Nvidia’s 4K footage is likely playing with a pre-upscale resolution of 1080p and a 4X framerate multiplier with DLSS Frame Generation.
Nvidia’s trailer showcases Borderlands 4 running at framerates between 200 FPS and 275 FPS. Discounting generated frames, this means that Borderlands 4 is running at 50-68 FPS at 4K with DLSS Super Resolution set to performance mode. Yes, DLSS Frame Generation has a performance overhead, but those aren’t great baseline framerates for what should be a fast-paced FPS.
If this is how an RTX 5090 runs with DLSS, how will Borderlands 4 run on lower-end PCs?
If Nvidia’s footage was recorded using an RTX 5090, it could mean that Borderlands 4 may run poorly on many PCs. After all, not everybody can afford a GPU like an RTX 5090. To make matters worse, Nvidia’s marketing for Borderlands 4 makes no mention of ray tracing. That means that PC games may not be able to simply disable ray tracing to deliver a significant performance boost.
While Nvidia has not revealed which GPU they are using to play Borderlands 4, it’s probably an RTX 5090. Why wouldn’t Nvidia use its flagship graphics card for this kind of testing? If Nvidia wants to show the biggest possible numbers, using an RTX 5090 for testing is their best option. Why wouldn’t they use their best?
If you’re looking to push the graphics of Borderlands 4 to their upper limits, PC is the platform for you—and with support for NVIDIA’s DLSS 4 technology, all your looter shooter action and high-octane Vault hunting will have the smoothest framerates and the slickest visuals possible. DLSS 4, powered by the GeForce RTX 50 Series, gives you the most high-fidelity vision of the havoc on Kairos thanks to AI-powered DLSS Multi Frame Generation and DLSS Super Resolution’s AI transformer model to enhance image quality.
In the video above [below here], you can see Borderlands 4 running with DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, showcasing the series’ iconic visual style with graphical enhancements made possible by NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series. Thanks to DLSS 4, you’ll experience stunning visuals with incredible framerates. If you have a GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics card, you’ll get the ultimate Borderlands 4 experience on PC when the game launches on September 12, 2025.
Borderlands 4 will likely bring lower-end gaming PCs to their knees. Beyond that, even gamers with mid-range systems may struggle to play this game at high framerates. Yes, Frame Generation can increase smoothness, but latency also matters, especially for fast-paced FPS games like Borderlands 4.
Nvidia’s Borderlands 4 GPU/Game bundle will be available until September 22nd 2025, or whenever Nvidia runs out of game codes. Whichever comes first. Borderlands 4 will be coming to PC on September 12th, launching on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
You can join the discussion on Borderlands 4’s DLSS Reveal on the OC3D Forums.
