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 132 FPS. At 1440p, all settings exceed 87 FPS. At 4K, all settings exceed 62 FPS.
The GeForce RTX 5090 is 136% above the recommended GPU (GeForce RTX 2060 Super) for Baldur's Gate 3. The M4 Max (14 cores) is 118% above the recommended CPU (Core i7-8700K).
The M4 Max (14 cores) sets the FPS ceiling at all 1080p settings, 1440p (low/medium/high), 4k low, while the GeForce RTX 5090 still has headroom. The FPS ceiling is closely matched at 1440p ultra, 4k (medium/high/ultra).
This chart answers a simple question: which upgrade is more likely to increase FPS first? In this case, the answer is the CPU.
The largest gap appears at 1080p Low, where the M4 Max (14 cores) reaches about 240 FPS, while the GeForce RTX 5090 still has headroom up to roughly 286 FPS.
That means the M4 Max (14 cores) is hitting its performance ceiling first, leaving a 16% gap versus the GeForce RTX 5090's available headroom in the most unbalanced scenario. Across all tested settings, this pairing is CPU-limited in 8 out of 12 cases, with 0 GPU-limited and 4 balanced results.
Overall, this is a CPU-limited combination in this game.
The M4 Max (14 cores) is usually the limiting part in this game, so upgrading the CPU is more likely to deliver a larger FPS gain than upgrading the GPU.
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 M4 Max (14 cores) with GeForce RTX 5090, our current GPU anchor. To estimate the GPU ceiling, we pair the GeForce RTX 5090 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 136% above the recommended specs. Ultra settings at 1080p, or High at 1440p/4K.
+118%vsrecommended
+136%vsrecommended
+550%vsminimum
+303%vsminimum
Yes, the M4 Max (14 cores) paired with the GeForce RTX 5090 can run Baldur's Gate 3 smoothly up to 4k achieving around 62 FPS at Ultra quality. Your GPU is 136% above the recommended specs, and your CPU is 118% above the recommended requirements.
Price data is not currently available for this combination. In general, look for setups where the CPU and GPU are balanced - this ensures you're not overspending on one component that the other can't keep up with.
For Baldur's Gate 3, upgrading the CPU would usually improve performance first. In the Performance Limiter Analysis, the M4 Max (14 cores) is the side that most often caps the frame rate, while the GeForce RTX 5090 still has additional headroom in the tested presets. If you want to move closer to the current market ceiling, a stronger processor like Ryzen 9 9955HX3D for around $749 would be the clearest next step. The main bottleneck appears on the CPU side. The largest gap shows up at 1080p Low, where the CPU reaches about 240 FPS while the GPU still has headroom up to roughly 286 FPS. Across all tested settings, the distribution is 0/12 GPU-limited, 8/12 CPU-limited, and 4/12 balanced.
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 M4 Max (14 cores) and GeForce RTX 5090 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.
