Performance And Quality Graphics Modes - Which Is Better?

Many video games now offer a Performance and Quality mode. But what is the difference between the two and which should you game with?

[isarai]

Depends on the genre and how the modes are executed for me personally. Like i don't need 60fps for something like R&C where it's not the most reflex dependent gameplay, so in cases like that i pick visuals. However some games have very solid performance modes with almost no discernible difference, and in some games both modes suck 🤷‍♂️

[blackblades]

I would agree when I was playing 30fps games on ps4 but after playing nothing but 60fps on ps5 and then hop on 30fps for a little bit I say the hell with 30fps performance all day imo.

[Bemi]

This is exactly it for me! It is hard for me to go back :(

[darthv72]

Same here. I choose performance over quality for that reason but also because my old eyes cant really tell the difference in quality mode. So why waste the performance on something that I may or may not even notice.

[Kurt Russell]

Yep once you've had a taste of 60fps for a while, it's very hard to go back. Performance mode for me.

[SurgicalMenace]

I'm with Isarai on this one. It all depends on the game, 60 is fine but in no way necessary to play every type of game. I tend to choose performance when the game has a lot of timing based mechanics versus fidelity when the game play isn't as demanding.

[Flawlessmic]

I literally play all my games in quality mode, give me the extra fidelity.

I barely notice the extra fps, as long as games are rock solid at 30 it's fine for me

[Jin_Sakai]

I will always pick performance mode no matter what game or genre. More responsive controls and smoother gameplay.

[GotGame818]

For FPS I prefer performance modes, accept Fortnight. When playing it in graphics mode, on Series X my FPS rarely drops below 60fps, as your FPS are displayed up top.

There was only one time I was dropping in, from the party bus, and my FPS went all over the place. I mean below 26 fps. I quit that game before landing. Dropped right back in, and was back at 60fps. Must have been the server.

Have to say, it's fun to stop playing Fortnight for awhile. Then go back to see what's changed. Pretty impressive Unreal Engine 5.1 upgrades to visuals, without losing 60fps. Of coarse it's just an island, and not a massive open world game.

[Lexreborn2]

I’ve pretty much been doing performance for everything. On my PC I play maxed settings 3440 x 1440p performance if available. On my 4k tv for PS5 or Series X I always play performance.

Mostly because we have hit the point of diminishing returns with graphics. Quality never seems to really do anything significant over performance these days.

[XxINFERNUSxX]

30FPS in 2023 should never be a thing, going into the future all games should be 60FPS at the very least with settings maxed or close to it at 4K. I game mostly on PC but, for me the sweet spot is FPS in the 100s's. Future game consoles need to try to get the best PC video card specs at the time of development so future games will not suffer.

[andy85]

The last few games I've played I've really struggled to see a difference between the two modes. Certainly not enough to give up 60+ fps for.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

i'd rather have a solid, smooth fps, over amazing graphics that stutter.

[MadLad]

I mainly game on PC, so it's pretty much a locked 1440-4K/60+ .
But I always opt for performance mode on console.

[CBaoth]

so....you're a glorified console gamer. IF you play at 2K or 4K or anything in between = that's not locked. You play with a consistent FR ergo you choose performance mode. Cute that you tried to elevate yourself from the other schills by not referencing your series G

[MadLad]

Dude just shut up lol.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I’m picking performance mode Every time. I just can’t go back to 30 fps no matter what. I haven’t even seen what my games look like in Quality mode because of 30 fps…

[OmegaSoldati]

In my console Ps4 Pro, the best option is to be able to choose to stay out of both and run the game on 1080p/30 fps so my ps4 pro wont take off. Thank you Sony airlines

[MadLad]

Yeah. I skipped most of last generation being I mainly play on PC, but got a seriously insane deal on a Pro so I grabbed it.
My PC makes some noise but, God damn, that thing legitimately does sound like an airliner taking off lol.

[OmegaSoldati]

So i did some hardware maintenance course more than 10 years ago. Also i didnt finish lol! But i almost solved this issue. I also looked everywhere for help.First thing is
1 - Keep it away from the wall (the air, heat intake)
2 - You are a PC gamer you know about thermal pastes. Grab a Noctua NTH1, its not going to do anything on the hardware if it leaks and its a bit better than Grizzly Kryonaut.
3. Grab a horizontal support, a 4 pieces holder. So it wont be in touch with your table all the time.
4. Turn off the main menu music, put on a custom static theme, a 1080p screenshot, disable super "sampling" something idk mode.Turn off the voice commands so that wont be running in the background. Disable everything you can.
5. Get an SSD.
Its making less noise, waaaayyy less, its not a 100% better, but its like 75% -80% better now.

[MadLad]

@omega

I appreciate the tips, but I actually sold it when the PS5 came out; being I knew it would be running PS5 games.

[jznrpg]

Clean your fan and other things you can do

[Orchard]

Performance any day. Can't go back to 30fps now, feels terrible.

[metabolicfrolic]

Games were always 60fps back in the days of NES. It wasn't until the PS2/XBox era when devs started trying to push their hardware to keep up with PC gaming that 30fps started becoming acceptable. Now we have high refresh rate monitors and TVs with super fast pixel response and when playing anything below 60fps, it becomes a juddery mess that will give you a headache. It's 2023, anything less than 60fps should be unacceptable. 120fps should be the norm by now ffs...

[jznrpg]

That’s the nice part of different modes the person gets to choose . We all have different preferences . Mine vary from game to game

[redrum06]

Performance for me every time, though I care about visuals too

[saint_seya]

Performance like 90% of the time for me.

[lellkay]

Always performance

[Tzuno]

if there is no big difference, i pick 60
if there is a notable difference, then full graphics on blast
i bought a ps5 to arouse my retina not to play ps3 era graphics on 4k