Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of those games that feels like it should only run on a machine powered by the souls of 100 wizards and cooled by dragon breath. But then you remember you’re playing on Intel Iris Xe Graphics, which is more like the IT intern of GPUs—helpful, capable, but easily overwhelmed when things get intense.

So can it run BG3? Surprisingly… yes. Kinda. With some sacrifices. Think “old-school graphics” and “patience is a virtue” levels of expectation.

Performance Overview: What You Can Expect

We tested Baldur’s Gate 3 on a laptop with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, and here’s how it went down:

• 720p, lowest settings: 25–35 FPS (smooth-ish in quiet areas)

• 1080p, lowest settings: 15–22 FPS (turn-based combat turns into turn-based waiting)

• Cutscenes: 20 FPS and struggling, but still immersive if you squint

• Combat-heavy scenes: 18 FPS or lower—brace yourself

Outside of big cities and magic-fueled mayhem, the game holds up better than expected. You’ll still get some stutters when loading new areas or dealing with dramatic lighting changes, but nothing unplayable.

Best Settings for Baldur’s Gate 3 on Iris Xe

Here’s the spellbook you’ll need to conjure up a stable experience:

• Resolution: 1280×720

• Graphics Preset: Low

• Anti-Aliasing: FXAA or Off

• V-Sync: Off (unless you want input delay for flavor)

• Dynamic Shadows: Off

• Ambient Occlusion: Off

• Texture Quality: Low

• Model Quality: Low

• Crowd Density: Low (because who needs people?)

• Depth of Field/Motion Blur/Bloom: Banished to the shadow realm

With this setup, you’re not going to win any visual awards, but you’ll be able to cast spells, explore dungeons, and get betrayed by companions just like everyone else.

Should You Roll the Dice on Iris Xe?

If you’ve got a laptop with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, you can run Baldur’s Gate 3. Is it optimal? Not even close. Is it doable? Yep. The turn-based nature of the game actually helps—it’s not like you need lightning-fast reflexes or 144Hz response times to succeed. You just need a bit of patience and maybe some hope your GPU doesn’t spontaneously combust when a fireball goes off.

All said and done, Baldur’s Gate 3 on Iris Xe is kind of like casting a Level 1 spell with high hopes. The results might not be flashy, but they’ll get the job done.