The PS5 is a huge step up from the PS4 in many areas, one of which is increased gaming performance. Higher frame rates can drastically improve your gaming experience, and the PS5 often features a performance mode in its games that favors this.
So, let's talk about the PS5's performance mode and four reasons why you should play supported games on it.
What Is the PS5's Performance Mode?
If you head to your PS5 game's settings, you might spot different game modes in the video section, one of which is a performance mode.
The PS5's performance mode—as the name suggests—favors performance over visual fidelity to ensure you're playing at 60 frames per second (FPS). In some games, such as Call of Duty: Vanguard, Doom Eternal, and the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, you can even play at 120FPS. The norm in the PS4 era was 30FPS.
The PS5's performance mode sacrifices resolution and certain in-game graphical settings, such as ray tracing, to achieve these frame rates. In contrast, the PS5 will also have a resolution, or "fidelity," mode that usually caps the frame rate at 30FPS to maximize visual quality.
With performance mode, you might not be playing at a consistent 4K resolution, nor will you see the peak of the PS5's visual prowess, but it's a worthy trade-off to hit 60FPS. Here are four reasons why.
1. Performance Mode Gives You Smoother Animations
As the PS5 has doubled the frame rate from 30FPS with performance mode, this means you'll be able to view a smoother game.
At first, this can appear jarring, almost as if the game is running on fast-forward. But as you adjust, you'll notice more fluid animations and appreciate just how good they really are. For games with a lot of elaborate animations, such as fighting games, the bump in frame rate highlights just how much detail each movement has.
Performance mode keeps your game flowing smoothly, allowing you to appreciate the immaculate level of animations video games can offer.
2. You'll Experience a More Responsive Game
While the bump in visual fluidity is excellent, the main reason you should play on performance mode is due to the increase in responsiveness.
If you can't see the difference between 30FPS and 60FPS, you'll certainly feel it. Your game will control snappier and input your commands quicker. It's hard to put it in words, but you'll find that your game responds so much better.
In contrast, 30FPS will respond sluggishly and appear jarring. Though it's not unplayable, and you can adjust to it, 60FPS means that you've got tighter, more efficient gameplay. This can really make a difference, especially in games that require split-second timing.
The PS5's performance mode can increase your immersion and enjoyment with a more responsive game.
3. Performance Mode Can Make Old Games Feel New
Combining visual fluidity with a more responsive game, it's not an understatement to say that performance mode can completely change your gameplay experience.
Two examples of games that can feel completely different with performance mode are open-world games like Days Gone and AAA titles with intense combat, like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, for various reasons.
Exploring an open world that used to stutter and lag at 30FPS at a smooth 60FPS makes that world all the more immersive. Responsiveness is a key component of games with intense combat—60FPS achieves this, making the combat system much more intense, engaging, and gratifying.
Revisiting a game you once beat (or left) at 30FPS can feel like a completely different experience. Of course, there are elements to a game that frame rate can't fix—story and writing, for example—but the improvements to gameplay really do make that much difference.
4. PS5 Games Will Still Look Fantastic on Performance Mode
Though this point is relative to each generation of games consoles, as the PS5 is a current-gen console, games will still look fantastic, even on performance mode.
While yes, you're making some visual trade-offs, don't expect the game to suddenly turn into a PS4 game just so you can hit 60FPS—you're playing a PS5 game, after all.
As the PS5 continues its life cycle, performance mode will likely improve, with more developers optimizing its hardware. This is almost a certainty for Sony's first-party developers. For instance, Insomniac already achieved 60FPS with ray tracing on Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
With performance mode, what you're trading in visual quality, you're more than making up for it with a smoother, more responsive gameplay experience.
Enjoy Your PS5 Games on Performance Mode
Performance mode is one of the most notable upgrades that the PS5 offers over the PS4. It's great that the industry is normalizing 60FPS for console players, and you shouldn't wait to dive right in.
While there is a visual compromise, it's more than worth your time to play your PS5 games at 60FPS and higher. Once you experience games at a high frame rate, you'll likely never look back.