Graphics vs. Frame Rates on Consoles: Which Game Mode Should You Pick?

pcmag.com:

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S come stacked with several exciting and powerful features, including high frame rates, ray-traced reflections and shadows, high-density crowds, and dizzying particle effects. There’s only one issue: Those features affect performance.

Many games now let you choose between visual pizzazz and smooth frame rates via two settings: Graphics Mode or Performance Mode. There’s no standardized rule book that developers follow when implementing these modes. The language and features included in each mode vary from title to title, too. Typically, you can find them in the game’s settings menu, in either the gameplay or video categories.

If you want to know what to expect from the modes, check out our breakdowns of Graphics Mode and Performance Mode below. But first, let's explore the terms you need to know to truly understand what these modes do.

Ray tracing is a technique that adds realistic light and shadows to a computer-generated scene. Ray tracing has been around for a while, but only recently have developers used it in a real-time fashion to add these effects to gameplay (instead of using a pre-rendered scene). We have a longer, more thorough deep dive in our ray tracing explainer.

How important is ray tracing? Well, it may be the defining next-generation feature. Realistic lighting and shadows make games more immersive, but the real showstopper is the way this technology handles reflections. Once you’ve played Insomniac’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PlayStation 5 with ray tracing, it’s hard to go back. Simply put, it's staggering to see Miles’ reflection in a skyscraper’s window as he swings through New York City. In fact, his Venom Blast's particle effects remain some of the best visuals