PhysX effects (the fluid, fabric, and debris) were previously a performance killer. On 32-bit, high PhysX would often overflow the memory allocation. On 64-bit, you can crank PhysX to "High" without fear of stuttering, provided you have an NVIDIA GPU.
Navigate to Documents/My Games/Borderlands 2/WillowGame/Config/.
Find WillowEngine.ini and change:
bUseTextureStreaming=True
PoolSize=512 (Increase from 256 to 512 for 64-bit memory headroom)
TextureStreamingDistanceScale=2.0
Technically, a 64-bit application can address up to 16.8 million TB of RAM. In practical terms, this means Borderlands 2 can now use as much memory as your system can physically provide. Map transitions are smoother, and "Out of Memory" errors are virtually extinct.
Tested on a mid-range 2020-2025 PC (Ryzen 5, GTX 1660 Ti / RTX 3060): borderlands 2 64 bit
| Metric | 32-bit (old) | 64-bit (current) | |--------|--------------|--------------------| | Max RAM usage | ~3.2 GB | 6-8 GB (tested) | | Texture pop-in | Frequent | Rare | | Crash frequency (4+ hours) | Moderate | Near zero | | Loading times (SSD) | 25-30 sec | 18-22 sec |
Biggest win: No more “out of memory” crashes during Captain Scarlett’s DLC or when using Community Patch 4.0.
💡 The 64-bit version also benefits from modern CPU instructions (SSE4, AVX), though Gearbox never officially documented this. PhysX effects (the fluid, fabric, and debris) were
Some users report that the 64-bit client has trouble with PlayStation controllers (DS4/DualSense) via Steam Input.
Good news:
Bad news:
Pro tip: Use BL2 Mod Manager (latest version) – it auto-detects 64-bit.
Out of the box, Borderlands 2 runs as a 32-bit application. This is because it was built on a customized version of Unreal Engine 3 (UE3). While UE3 was incredibly capable for its time, it was fundamentally designed for the 32-bit architecture that dominated the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era.
For the average player, this distinction doesn't matter much—until it does. The main limitation of a 32-bit application is memory addressing. A 32-bit program can only recognize and utilize roughly 3.5GB to 4GB of RAM. Technically, a 64-bit application can address up to 16
In a game like Borderlands 2, which features "cel-shaded" graphics that require heavy texture loading and particle effects, hitting that 4GB ceiling is surprisingly easy.