Baldur's Gate 3
A dense RPG where Act 3 becomes a CPU stress test due to the high number of NPCs. An SSD is vital for loading times. 16GB of RAM is recommended, and the game benefits greatly from upscaling tech like DLSS and FSR.
Actual FPS may vary based on RAM speed, background processes, and other system factors
Performance Report
At 1080p, all quality settings exceed 179 FPS, suitable for 144Hz+ monitors. At 1440p, all settings exceed 117 FPS. At 4K, all settings exceed 79 FPS.
The GeForce RTX 4090 is 131% above the recommended GPU (GeForce RTX 2060 Super) for Baldur's Gate 3. The Core i5-14600K is 118% above the recommended CPU (Core i7-8700K).
No major FPS-ceiling mismatch detected. The GeForce RTX 4090 and Core i5-14600K stay close in effective frame-generation ceiling across the tested resolutions and quality settings.
Approximated average price on current market:
Combo price: $1924. At 1080p Ultra, this combo delivers 179 FPS, equivalent to 0.09 FPS per dollar.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 0.154 fps/$ | 0.136 fps/$ | 0.109 fps/$ | 0.093 fps/$ |
| 1440p | 0.086 fps/$ | 0.078 fps/$ | 0.072 fps/$ | 0.061 fps/$ |
| 4k | 0.054 fps/$ | 0.051 fps/$ | 0.048 fps/$ | 0.041 fps/$ |
* Table values represent FPS per Dollar (higher is better)
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This chart answers a simple question: which upgrade is more likely to increase FPS first? In this case, there is no clear winner.
The largest gap still appears at 1440p Ultra, where the GeForce RTX 4090 reaches about 100 FPS, while the Core i5-14600K still has headroom up to roughly 116 FPS.
That means neither part is consistently hitting its ceiling far ahead of the other. Across all tested settings, this pairing is GPU-limited in 4 out of 12 cases, CPU-limited in 2, and balanced in 6.
Overall, this is a balanced combination in this game.
Neither the Core i5-14600K nor the GeForce RTX 4090 stands out as the consistent limiter in this game, so the better upgrade depends more on your target settings than on one obvious bottleneck.
This chart shows which upgrade is more likely to unlock more FPS in each tested setting. The lower line represents the part that reaches its limit first. When the CPU and GPU lines stay close together, the system is more balanced. When the gap widens, one component is more clearly holding the other back. Hover any setting to inspect it.
The lower line is the current limiter. The closer the two lines are, the more balanced the CPU and GPU are for this game.
Each line represents an estimated FPS ceiling for one component, rather than live usage alone.
To estimate the CPU ceiling, we pair the Core i5-14600K with GeForce RTX 5090, our current GPU anchor. To estimate the GPU ceiling, we pair the GeForce RTX 4090 with Ryzen 9 9950X3D, our current CPU anchor.
The lower line indicates the current limiter, since that component reaches its FPS ceiling first. In most scenarios, that is also the part most likely to deliver the bigger performance uplift if upgraded first.
The percentage shown represents the gap between the two ceilings. In practical terms, it shows how much of the stronger component's potential is left unused because the weaker one becomes the bottleneck first.
See how your processor and graphics card compare against the game official minimum and recommended system specs. The placement of your hardware is calculated using relative synthetic performance scores to help you gauge overall playability.
Your CPU is 118% above and your GPU is 131% above the recommended specs. Ultra settings at 1080p, or High at 1440p/4K.
+118%vsrecommended
+131%vsrecommended
+550%vsminimum
+295%vsminimum
Yes, the Core i5-14600K paired with the GeForce RTX 4090 can run Baldur's Gate 3 smoothly up to 4k achieving around 79 FPS at Ultra quality. Your GPU is 131% above the recommended specs, and your CPU is 118% above the recommended requirements.
This CPU + GPU combo costs approximately $1,924 ($275 CPU + $1,649 GPU). This is a well-balanced setup, meaning you're getting good value from both components without significant waste.
This setup is already well-balanced for Baldur's Gate 3. In the Performance Limiter Analysis, neither side consistently defines the maximum FPS across the tested presets. Across all tested settings, the distribution is 4/12 GPU-limited, 2/12 CPU-limited, and 6/12 balanced. In practice, this pairing behaves as a well-balanced combination in this game. Because of that, upgrading only one component would usually bring smaller gains than improving the overall pairing.
Baldur's Gate 3 does not currently support Frame Generation technologies like DLSS 3 or FSR 3. Your performance is based entirely on native rendering. If the game adds support in a future update, newer GPUs will benefit the most.
Baldur's Gate 3 requires at minimum a Core i5-4690 (CPU) and GeForce GTX 970 (GPU) with 8 GB RAM and 150 GB (SSD) storage. For the recommended experience, you need a Core i7-8700K and GeForce RTX 2060 Super with 16 GB RAM. Your Core i5-14600K and GeForce RTX 4090 both exceed the recommended specs, so you're well-positioned for a great experience.
These Baldur's Gate 3 FPS results are not arbitrary numbers. They come from calculations informed by thousands of real gaming benchmarks, and the typical accuracy range is around 10% to 15%. That makes them far more useful than generic FPS calculators that simply invent values without a benchmark foundation. Actual in-game performance can still vary with drivers, updates, RAM configuration, cooling, and the exact scene being rendered.
Performance estimates are based on synthetic benchmarks and hardware capabilities.
Results may vary based on drivers, OS, and background processes.
