The PS5 has received a stealthy performance boost courtesy of its latest firmware update.
Certain PS5 games run a tiny bit faster than they did before the update, according to Digital Foundry‘s Richard Leadbetter. He stumbled upon this fact in the process of testing the performance of the new subtly revised PS5 console with its reworked cooling system.
Leadbetter tested performance across Control Ultimate Edition and Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition, using hardware running on the previous firmware and hardware using the latest system software update. He found that there were differences of as much as a couple of frames per second in favour of the updated consoles, resulting in a minor boost of between 1 and 3%.
These performance gains seem to apply regardless of which PS5 model you’re using, whether the launch 1000 series or the new 1100 series.
Beyond the minuscule nature of the boost, it’s worth noting that both of these test scenarios featured fairly uncommon combinations of ray tracing and unlocked frame rates. This means that there’s no guarantee that this performance enhancement will be present in the majority of PS5 titles. It would be pretty tricky to notice the improvement even if it was.
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Still, it’s encouraging to discover that Sony is able to wring extra performance out of its latest console through over the air software tweaks. Hopefully we’ll see more substantial gains as the generation wears on.
Negligible performance bump aside, the latest PS5 firmware update is most notable for activating the dormant ability to upgrade the PS5’s internal SSD, as well as opening out Sony’s 3D audio standard to TV speakers.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
