God of War — PS5 & PS5 Pro performance
Technical analysis last updated
God of War: Ragnarök is built on PS4 tech but features notable PS5 enhancements including overhauled indirect illumination, screen-space directional occlusion, upgraded surface tessellation, faster loading times, and DualSense support. On PS5, performance is remarkably stable across all four visual modes. For 60Hz displays, the 60fps Performance mode is the recommended choice due to its locked frame-rate and negligible visual concessions compared to the 30fps Quality mode. Display owners with 120Hz and VRR support benefit significantly from the unlocked High Frame Rate Performance mode, which averages between 80-90fps for maximum responsiveness.
Graphics modes on PlayStation 5 Pro
God of War Ragnarök's PS5 Pro patch delivers an impressive upgrade by blending Quality Mode visual features—such as ray-traced cube maps—with uncapped performance exceeding 60 FPS on 120Hz VRR displays. While PSSR enhances image clarity over 1440p TAA, it introduces a noticeable ~10 FPS performance drop in CPU-intensive scenes.
Replaces Performance Mode with PS5 Pro Enhanced mode featuring uncapped frame rates for 120Hz VRR displays, Quality Mode ray-traced cube maps, and toggleable PSSR / TAA upscaling.
PS5 Pro Enhanced Mode
PS5 ProUnverifiedFeatures Quality Mode image quality enhancements including ray-traced cube maps. Uses a 1440p base resolution with PSSR anti-aliasing.
Quality
PS5 ProUnverifiedRenders at native 4K with improved distance LOD, contact-hardened shadows, higher quality fur, and additional lighting sources.
Performance
PS5 ProUnverifiedUses dynamic resolution scaling averaging around 1872p with TAA upsampling. Reduced draw distance/LOD, fur quality, light sources, and shadow resolution compared to Quality mode.
High Frame Rate Quality
PS5 ProUnverifiedMatches Quality mode feature set with dynamic resolution scaling between 1800p and 2160p.
High Frame Rate Performance
PS5 ProUnverifiedMaintains 1440p output with temporal upscaling and Performance mode visual settings.
Graphics modes on PlayStation 5
God of War: Ragnarök achieves outstanding technical refinement on PS5 with stable frame rates across all configurations. Though true hardware-accelerated ray tracing is absent, upgraded pre-baked lighting, improved screen-space reflections, and enhanced tessellation refine the visual presentation over the original game.
Performance
PS5UnverifiedUses dynamic resolution scaling averaging around 1872p with TAA upsampling. Reduced draw distance/LOD, fur quality, light sources, and shadow resolution compared to Quality mode.
Quality
PS5UnverifiedRenders at native 4K with improved distance LOD, contact-hardened shadows, higher quality fur, and additional lighting sources.
High Frame Rate Quality
PS5UnverifiedMatches Quality mode feature set with dynamic resolution scaling between 1800p and 2160p.
High Frame Rate Performance
PS5UnverifiedMaintains 1440p output with temporal upscaling and Performance mode visual settings.
PS5 vs PS5 Pro
Side-by-side comparison of graphics modes, resolution and technical features.
The PS5 Pro update offers a significant enhancement, combining Quality Mode visual features like ray-traced cube maps with uncapped frame rates ranging from 60 to 100 FPS on 120Hz VRR displays.
| Metric | PS5 | PS5 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| PSFoundry Score | 87Great | 82Great |
| Recommended mode | Performance | PS5 Pro Enhanced Mode |
| Modes available | 4 | 5 |
| Highest target FPS | 120 | 120 |
| Highest verified capability | 120 fps target | 120 fps target |
| PSSR | No | Yes |
| Ray tracing | No | Yes |
| VRR | Yes | Yes |
| 120 Hz support | Yes | Yes |
| PS5 Pro Enhanced | No | Yes |
- PSFoundry Score
- 87Great
- Recommended mode
- Performance
- Modes available
- 4
- Highest target FPS
- 120
- Highest verified capability
- 120 fps target
- PSSR
- No
- Ray tracing
- No
- VRR
- Yes
- 120 Hz support
- Yes
- PS5 Pro Enhanced
- No
- PSFoundry Score
- 82Great
- Recommended mode
- PS5 Pro Enhanced Mode
- Modes available
- 5
- Highest target FPS
- 120
- Highest verified capability
- 120 fps target
- PSSR
- Yes
- Ray tracing
- Yes
- VRR
- Yes
- 120 Hz support
- Yes
- PS5 Pro Enhanced
- Yes
Known issues
Using PSSR upscaling instead of TAA reduces frame rates by approximately 10 FPS in CPU-intensive areas due to the 2ms per frame processing overhead.
Video analysis
Independent technical videos referenced in our analysis.
God of War on PC - Digital Foundry Tech Review - PlayStation vs PC, Performance, Optimised Settings! Digital Foundry · 588K views ; Cyberpunk 2077 ...
God of War Ragnarök on PS5 - The Digital Foundry Tech Review. Digital ... God of War Ragnarök on PS5 Pro: TAA vs PSSR - Quality and Performance ...
God of War Ragnarök on PS5 - The Digital Foundry Tech Review. Digital ... God of War Ragnarök on PS5 Pro: TAA vs PSSR - Quality and Performance ...
God of War Ragnarök on PS5 Pro: TAA vs PSSR - Quality and Performance Tested! @DFClipsChannel2.2K likes108K views1 year ago
It's finally here! John Linneman presents the DF Tech Review for God of War Ragnarök, focusing on improvements vs God of War 2018, ...
# DF Direct Weekly [#188](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/188): Death Stranding Xbox, God of War Ragnarök PS5 Pro, Switch 2 Back Compat! [](https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalFoundry) [Digital Foundry](https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalFoundry) Digital Foundry
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Sources and verification
Every technical claim on this page is attributed. Nothing is estimated.
PSFoundry is primarily a source-based database. A game is only marked as personally tested when PSFoundry has directly tested it. All other technical information is attributed to its original source.
- UnverifiedDigital Foundry evaluates God of War Ragnarök across PS4, PS4 Pro, and PS5, showcasing excellent cross-generational scaling, smooth 60fps and 120Hz options on PS5, and impressive polish on last-gen haDigital Foundry2022-11-09
Digital Foundry evaluates God of War Ragnarök across PS5, PS4 Pro, and PS4, highlighting its artist-driven cross-gen scalability, high level of polish, and wide array of high-frame-rate and resolution options.
Open source - UnverifiedDigital Foundry analyzes Santa Monica Studio's patch 1.35 for God of War (2018) on PlayStation 5, which introduces a transformative 60fps mode running at 2160p checkerboard rendering alongside a lockeDigital Foundry2021-02-13
Digital Foundry analyzes Santa Monica Studio's patch 1.35 for God of War (2018) on PlayStation 5, which introduces a transformative 60fps mode running at 2160p checkerboard rendering alongside a locked 30fps mode.
Open source - UnverifiedGod of War Ragnarök on PS5 delivers an extraordinarily polished presentation across four distinct graphics options for 60Hz and 120Hz displays. On standard 60Hz screens, players can choose between a lDigital Foundry2022-11-03
God of War: Ragnarök on PS5 offers exceptional polish and performance across four distinct graphics modes catering to 60Hz and 120Hz displays.
Open source - UnverifiedDigital Foundry analyzed God of War Ragnarök's PS5 Pro patch, which replaces the standard Performance Mode with a PS5 Pro Enhanced mode. It runs uncapped above 60 FPS on 120Hz VRR displays, reaching uWccftech2024-11-12
Digital Foundry analyzed God of War Ragnarök's PS5 Pro patch, which replaces the standard Performance Mode with a PS5 Pro Enhanced mode. It runs uncapped above 60 FPS on 120Hz VRR displays, reaching up to 100 FPS, and includes Quality Mode visuals like ray-traced cube maps. PSSR upscaling uses a 1440p base resolution but reduces framerates by around 10 FPS in CPU-heavy scenes compared to TAA.
Open source
Frequently asked
Answers built from the verified data on this page.
What frame rate does God of War run at on PS5 Pro?
On PS5 Pro, God of War offers 4 graphics modes: Quality targets 30 FPS at 2160p; Performance targets 60 FPS at 4K; High Frame Rate Quality targets 40 FPS at 2160p; High Frame Rate Performance targets 120 FPS at 1440p.
What frame rate does God of War run at on PS5?
On PS5, God of War offers 4 graphics modes: Quality targets 30 FPS at 2160p; Performance targets 60 FPS at 4K; High Frame Rate Quality targets 40 FPS at 2160p; High Frame Rate Performance targets 120 FPS at 1440p.
Does God of War support 120 Hz on PlayStation?
Yes. PS5 Pro Enhanced Mode on PS5 Pro, High Frame Rate Quality on PS5 Pro, High Frame Rate Performance on PS5 Pro, High Frame Rate Quality on PS5, High Frame Rate Performance on PS5 run with 120 Hz output on a compatible display.
Does God of War use PSSR on PS5 Pro?
Yes. At least one PS5 Pro graphics mode of God of War uses PSSR, Sony's machine-learning upscaler, according to the sources cited in our analysis.
Is God of War worth playing on PS5 Pro?
The PS5 Pro update offers a significant enhancement, combining Quality Mode visual features like ray-traced cube maps with uncapped frame rates ranging from 60 to 100 FPS on 120Hz VRR displays.
What is the best graphics mode for God of War on PS5 Pro?
Best overall balance: PS5 Pro Enhanced Mode — PS5 Pro Enhanced Mode. Highest frame rate: High Frame Rate Performance targets 120 FPS at 1440p.
Patch history
Only updates that changed graphics modes, resolution, frame rate or visual features.
We only log updates with a documented effect on graphics modes, resolution, frame rate or visual features. None have been verified for this title yet.
The players' verdict
Recent player impressions of how the game runs on PS5 and PS5 Pro.
We publish player impressions from Reddit, ResetEra and specialist forums only when they discuss how the game actually runs. They never affect the PSFoundry Score.
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Browse the full PlayStation performance database or the PS5 Pro Enhanced games list.