Sony’s PlayStation 5 has got a firmware upgrade that affects both the console’s debut model, the 1000 series, and the subsequent 1100 series revision.
The updated firmware improves performance by roughly 3%, making the game console quicker.
However, just a few games run significantly quicker, and the gain isn’t evident in every PlayStation 5 title.
Baseline testing included measuring framerate on the ‘DMC5SE’ and the ‘Control Ultimate Edition’
In a new Digital Foundry video, the company’s founder, Richard Leadbetter, plays Control Ultimate Edition and Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition using the earlier PlayStation 5 system. This serves as the foundation for the current September system software upgrade.
DMC5SE cutscenes and Control’s picture mode was specifically tested because the latter unlocks the game’s framerate, which is otherwise limited to 30fps.
Both games produced around 3% higher framerates
During testing, frame-graph footage revealed that both DMC5SE and Control were operating at one to two frames per second faster on the latest PS5 firmware.
Leadbetter discovered that each game was running 1-3 percent quicker, with a 1% margin of error.
In addition, ray tracing and unlocked framerates were mentioned as a “common component” in their occurrence.
Sony has not stated how the upgrade would affect game performance
Digital Foundry made no mention of other games with unlocked framerates below 60fps, owing to the fact that the PS5 doesn’t have many of them, to begin with.
Sony has not yet commented on the firmware upgrade and its effect on game performance.
However, this isn’t the first time that firmware updates have improved in-game speed.
Previously, Microsoft unlocked performance gains through firmware upgrades
For example, in 2013, Microsoft set aside 10% of the original Xbox One’s GPU power for “system processing.” This allowed for obligatory Kinect integration as well as Snap mode, a hardware-level function used to switch between programs.
Furthermore, we feel that a 3% boost in framerates for PS5 titles would be insignificant, save for competitive players.