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PS5 Pro can let selected games deliver a sharper image, stronger ray-tracing effects and a higher frame-rate target at the same time—but it does not automatically make every PS5 game run faster. Sony advertises up to 120fps in compatible titles, while individual developers decide whether a Pro mode raises frame rate, improves image quality at the existing frame rate, or combines both.
The practical comparison is therefore game-by-game. Your decision depends on the titles you play, the Pro mode each title supports and whether your television or monitor can display the target refresh rate. A 120Hz screen matters for some high-frame-rate modes, but it is not a universal requirement for every Pro enhancement.
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PS5 vs. PS5 Pro: the short answer for high-frame-rate gaming
PS5 Pro adds graphics hardware headroom that developers can spend in several ways. A supported game might keep a 60fps target while rendering at a higher base resolution, use AI-assisted PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling, add ray-tracing effects, or combine visual features that previously required a 30fps quality mode with 60fps performance.
Other games may offer a mode above 60fps, including Sony’s advertised capability of up to 120fps in compatible titles. That number describes a ceiling for selected software, not a guarantee for the console as a whole. Sony says Pro features apply only to selected enhanced PS5 games and vary by title.
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There is no single percentage improvement that applies across the library. The clearest way to compare the consoles is to inspect the actual modes in the games you play.
What changes on PS5 Pro?
| Comparison point | What PS5 Pro can provide | What determines the result |
|---|---|---|
| Frame rate | 60fps with upgraded visuals, or a higher-refresh mode reaching as high as 120fps in compatible games | The game’s Pro patch and selected mode; the advertised maximum is not universal |
| Image quality | Higher base render resolution, sharper detail, more stable fine textures and PSSR upscaling to 4K output | How the developer implements rendering and reconstruction in that title |
| Visual effects | Ray tracing and other fidelity features can be enabled alongside smoother modes in selected games | Each game’s graphics settings and performance budget |
| Display compatibility | High-refresh modes can take advantage of a 120Hz-capable television or monitor | The specific mode; Stellar Blade’s cited HFR option requires a 120Hz display |
| Storage | 2TB built-in SSD, with some capacity reserved by system software and other functions | Actual usable space is lower than the advertised raw capacity |
| Backward and older-game support | Game Boost support for selected PS4 and PS5 titles | Whether the individual title is included and how its software handles the feature |
These are capabilities, not promises that every game exposes every option. A title without a Pro enhancement may continue to behave much as it does on a regular PS5.
Does PS5 Pro get higher FPS?
Sometimes. The answer is controlled by the game’s performance modes rather than by the console alone.
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Games that combine quality and 60fps
Guerrilla’s cited example for Horizon Forbidden West says the Pro version delivers visual quality matching or exceeding the regular PS5 Quality mode while running at 60fps. Studio Director and Art Director Jan-Bart van Beek described that as double the frame rate of the regular Quality mode. This is a developer statement about that game’s Pro implementation, not a cross-game benchmark.
Insomniac gives a similar example for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Its Performance Pro mode combines visual features associated with Fidelity mode with a 60fps target. On a regular PS5, players generally had to choose between a more detailed quality presentation and a smoother performance presentation; the Pro mode is designed to reduce that trade-off in this title.
Games that keep 60fps but look sharper
A Pro upgrade does not have to increase the frame-rate number to be visible. Housemarque Technical Director Seppo Halonen says Saros already runs at 60fps on PS5. On PS5 Pro, the developer increased the base render resolution, producing a clearer, higher-resolution image at 60fps. The same PlayStation Blog material notes that key story cinematics run at 30fps, so the 60fps statement applies to gameplay rather than every moment of the experience.
This is an important distinction: if a game is already locked to 60fps on PS5, Pro may spend its extra capacity on resolution, reconstruction quality or effects instead of raising the gameplay frame rate.
Games with a mode above 60fps
Shift Up Technical Director and CTO Dongki Lee says Stellar Blade offers an HFR option that can run at 80fps. Lee also says the mode requires a 120Hz display. The same statement describes a 4K mode at 50fps or more and improved grain and detail in PSSR upscale mode.
Stellar Blade demonstrates both the opportunity and the limitation of high-refresh gaming: the Pro can support a higher target, but the title must implement it and your display must be able to show it. It would be incorrect to treat 80fps as the standard result for all Pro games.
How PSSR and higher rendering resolution affect motion
PS5 Pro’s visual advantage is not simply a higher output resolution label. Sony describes PSSR as AI-enhanced 4K resolution technology. In practice, a compatible game can render internally at a lower or variable resolution and reconstruct a cleaner 4K image, leaving more GPU time for lighting, effects or frame-rate headroom.
The developers’ examples show two ways this can matter:
- The Last of Us Part II Remastered is described by Naughty Dog Lead Programmer Vincent Marxen as rendering at 1440p and upscaling to 4K with PSSR while maintaining a 60fps target.
- Saros increases its base render resolution and produces a sharper image at 60fps, according to Housemarque.
Those implementations are not interchangeable. One game may use PSSR to reconstruct a lower internal resolution, while another may increase its base resolution and use the additional headroom for image stability. Look for the mode description in the game rather than assuming that every Pro title uses the same internal resolution or reconstruction path.
Ray tracing and fidelity features at higher frame rates
Ray tracing calculates lighting, reflections or shadows with a more demanding rendering method. On a regular PS5, enabling more ray-traced effects can force a game toward a 30fps quality mode. PS5 Pro gives developers more graphics capacity, so selected titles can offer ray tracing or other Fidelity-style features alongside a 60fps target.
The Horizon Forbidden West and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart examples illustrate this approach: the stated goal is to preserve or exceed quality-mode visuals while maintaining 60fps. The exact effects included—such as reflection quality, shadow detail or draw distance—remain title-specific, so “ray tracing on Pro” is not a uniform preset across the library.
Do you need a 120Hz TV for PS5 Pro?
No—not for every Pro feature. A 120Hz-capable television or monitor matters when you want to use a game mode designed for refresh rates above 60Hz. Shift Up explicitly requires 120Hz support for Stellar Blade’s 80fps HFR mode. Without a display capable of accepting and presenting that refresh rate, the mode’s benefit cannot be shown as intended.
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For 60fps Pro modes, a 60Hz display can still show the 60 frames per second target, although a higher-refresh display may be useful for other console modes. The cited evidence does not establish a universal 120Hz requirement for PS5 Pro, so do not buy a new screen solely because you own the console. First check the display requirement for the particular game and mode.
When a 120Hz display is a sensible upgrade
- Your main games explicitly offer an HFR mode above 60fps.
- The game’s documentation says that mode requires 120Hz support.
- You can verify that your existing screen is limited to 60Hz and cannot accept the desired signal.
- You value lower motion persistence and smoother camera movement more than maximum resolution in that title.
When it is not necessary
- Your favorite Pro modes target 60fps rather than a higher refresh rate.
- You mainly want sharper image quality, PSSR reconstruction or improved ray tracing.
- Your current display already presents the 60fps modes you use comfortably.
PS5 versus PS5 Pro: what to compare in your own games
Use the following process before deciding whether the upgrade addresses your actual priorities.
- List the games you play most. Include both current games and the titles you expect to play for the next year; a Pro purchase makes more sense when several favorites have documented enhancements.
- Identify the Pro modes. Look for labels such as Pro, Performance Pro, Fidelity Pro, HFR or PSSR in the game’s current graphics menu and official update notes.
- Write down the target frame rate. Separate 30fps cinematics or menus from gameplay claims. Saros, for example, is described as 60fps in gameplay while key story cinematics remain 30fps.
- Record the visual trade-off. Note whether the mode adds ray tracing, raises base resolution, uses PSSR, or combines Fidelity-like features with 60fps.
- Check display requirements. A mode above 60fps may require a 120Hz screen; do not assume that requirement applies to every mode in the game.
- Check patch status. Pro support can arrive through a game update and can change as developers revise modes. Confirm the current documentation for the version you will play.
- Decide which improvement you will notice. If you are sensitive to motion smoothness, prioritize a documented 60fps or HFR mode. If you notice shimmering and fine-detail instability, prioritize higher-resolution or PSSR improvements.
Who should buy PS5 Pro for high-frame-rate gaming?
It is a strong fit when several games match your priority
The upgrade is easiest to justify when the games you actually play have Pro modes that solve a specific compromise. Examples include a 60fps mode with regular-PS5-Quality-level visuals in Horizon Forbidden West, Fidelity-like features at 60fps in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, or an 80fps HFR option in Stellar Blade when paired with a 120Hz display.
It is also a logical choice if you already have a suitable 4K high-refresh display and want the console to use it. In that situation, you are not paying for a capability you cannot view.
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If your library consists mainly of games without a documented Pro mode, the console cannot be expected to raise their frame rate automatically. Game Boost supports selected PS4 and PS5 titles, but inclusion and behavior vary. Check each title rather than assuming a universal uplift.
It may not solve a frame-rate problem you have identified
If a game already runs at 60fps on PS5, Pro may improve clarity while leaving gameplay at 60fps, as Housemarque describes for Saros. If your sole goal is “more frames,” verify the target mode first. A sharper 60fps presentation can be a meaningful upgrade, but it is different from an 80fps or 120fps mode.
Storage and practical ownership considerations
Sony’s current PS5 Pro product information lists 2TB of built-in SSD storage. Sony also notes that system software and other functions reserve part of the drive, so usable capacity is lower than the raw advertised figure. The larger internal drive can reduce how often you remove large games, but it does not change the frame-rate behavior of a title.
Game Boost is listed for selected PS4 and PS5 games. Because support is selective, treat it as an additional compatibility feature rather than evidence that every older game will receive a new performance mode.
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“Up to 120fps” means every game runs at 120fps
It does not. Sony’s wording applies to compatible games, and Sony says features vary by title. The cited examples range from sharper 60fps gameplay to 80fps HFR and do not establish a universal 120fps result.
A Pro console automatically converts Quality mode to 60fps
Only a developer-created mode can make that trade-off. Guerrilla and Insomniac describe specific implementations that combine quality features with 60fps; those examples cannot be applied to unpatched games.
Every Pro benefit requires a 120Hz display
That is also incorrect. The 120Hz requirement is documented for Stellar Blade’s HFR mode. A 60fps mode with sharper rendering or ray tracing is a different use of the hardware.
4K output proves the game renders natively at 4K
Output resolution and internal render resolution are separate. Naughty Dog’s cited The Last of Us Part II Remastered Pro mode renders at 1440p and upscales to 4K with PSSR. Read the developer’s description of the mode instead of inferring internal resolution from the television’s input label.
A quoted developer number is an independent benchmark
The figures in the examples are developer-attributed statements. They explain intended modes, but they are not a standardized cross-game laboratory comparison. Patches, scenes and settings can affect the result.
How to check a game before buying the console
Open the game’s current graphics or display settings and look for a Pro-specific label. Then verify three details in the game’s official update information or developer documentation:
- The gameplay frame-rate target and whether it is a cap, target or variable result.
- The visual features included in that mode, such as ray tracing, higher base resolution or PSSR.
- Any display requirement, especially a stated 120Hz requirement for HFR modes.
If those details are not published, avoid assuming that the Pro will deliver a particular frame rate. Re-check after major game updates because developers can add or revise enhanced modes.
Bottom line: what changes for high-frame-rate gaming?
PS5 Pro changes the performance-versus-quality trade-off in supported games. It can pair 60fps with visual quality that previously belonged to a 30fps mode, sharpen an already-60fps game through higher rendering resolution, or enable a mode above 60fps such as Stellar Blade’s cited 80fps option. Sony advertises up to 120fps, but the result is always determined by the game.
Choose the Pro when your core games have documented enhancements that match your priority and, for HFR modes, your display can show the intended refresh rate. Keep the regular PS5 when your games lack those modes or when you mainly expect a universal frame-rate increase that the console does not promise.
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