If you own one of the best 4K TVs, an exciting possibility of both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 was the promise of games running at 120 frames per second (fps). Via an HDMI 2.1 port, TVs with 120Hz refresh rates can change their image 120 times every second, rather than the 60 that previous TVs tended to be capped at.
Combined with the latest consoles’ internals, that meant 120fps gameplay was within reach — and that's great news if you've ever had the chance to experience that firsthand. Once you’ve played games at 120fps, it’s hard to go back. Not only is everything gloriously smooth, but there’s evidence to suggest that improved frame rates can improve reaction times, potentially giving you a competitive advantage in those all-important multiplayer sessions.
The trouble is that, a little more than three years into the Series X and PS5’s life, there are relatively few games that support 120fps gameplay. Push Square’s running total currently sits at 98 games, and some of those require reduced visual fidelity to push frame rates that high.
Worse, we’re seeing more games that struggle to even hit 60fps: The Quarry and, infamously, Gotham Knights are stuck at a disappointing 30fps, and A Plague Tale: Requiem required a patch before it hit its 60fps stride.
All of this means that there’s some pressure on the frequently rumored PS5 Pro to deliver on the 120fps dream. Thankfully, there’s some evidence to suggest it’ll make a good go of it.
How a possible PS5 Pro could deliver 120fps
While the rumored PS5 Pro specs only show a modest 500Mhz boost to clock speeds, the RNDA-3-based GPU will reportedly offer an extra 24 compute units, with the hardware nearly doubling from 36 to 60.
That alone might not be enough to help the PS5 Pro live up to its potential — especially with it still reportedly set to use an aging Zen 2 CPU — but Sony apparently has a trick up its sleeve: its own answer to Nvidia DLSS.
According to the report, Sony’s proprietary solution will have the power to increase frame rates by up to 50%. Like DLSS, it will apparently use hardware accelerated machine learning to generate additional frames, making games appear considerably smoother.
Hopefully that means that developers will take the time to make games that run at 60fps go the extra mile to 120fps on PS5 Pro hardware — and more importantly ensure that 30fps relics are confined to the past where they belong.
If the rumors are correct, we may get some early data points before 2024 is out, with a September release raised as a possibility.
