Hogwarts Legacy: Fidelity vs Performance, best settings on PS5 and Xbox

Hogwarts Legacy is finally available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with a variety of performance modes to choose from – a total of five different presets on the new consoles, with two of them designed for 120hz monitors. And, yes, there's even a mode designed for ray tracing.

With so many options, it can be difficult to know which setting is right for you. In this guide, we'll delve into the various graphics settings of Hogwarts Legacy on console, with frame rate estimates coming from a PS5 version of the game and a VRR display with a framerate counter.

Be sure to check out our Hogwarts Legacy guide for everything you might need to know about the game, including puzzle solutions, where to find items and more.

Loyalty

Fidelity mode is the choice for gamers who want 30fps and high resolution, with other effects enabled. It's clearly a matter of personal preference, but who would choose this mode when there's a 60fps equivalent available – especially since this mode involves frame rate drops and stutter, especially when panning while in the open world.

Fidelity with Raytracing

Ours isn't a global analysis, so it's a bit tricky to identify which ray-tracing features are actually enabled in the game. One thing's for sure: you shouldn't expect raytraced reflections on rivers and bodies of water. This mode appears to have better lighting, but the drop in resolution over Fidelity mode and the framerate aren't as smooth as you might expect.

Performance

Performance mode will be the best option for anyone gaming on a standard 60hz panel. Flying around the open world, the framerate will rarely drop below 60fps and there's an option to remove the framerate cap, allowing you to go above 60fps, down to 70fps, if you have a compatible display. The lower resolution will cause jaggies to appear around clothing and make textures appear slightly blurry, but it's a worthwhile trade-off for such smooth gameplay.

Balanced

The latter two modes are exclusively for gamers with a 120hz panel, and it's even better with VRR enabled. This mode takes the resolution higher than the Performance mode but instead aims for a 40fps cap, which fits perfectly with a 120Hz refresh rate. This is our favorite mode and it offers smooth gameplay with brilliant graphics. You should play this mode with the framerate cap enabled, though.

HFR performance

And finally, there's a high framerate Performance mode, and it's very good. Honestly, this mode performs slightly better than the Performance mode with the framerate cap removed, seeing spikes of 80fps while flitting around the open world – but, in general, the framerate still tends to hover just above 60fps, closer to 65. -70. If you want the lowest possible latency, and image quality to be damned, this is the mode for you.

CONCLUSIONS

If you have a 60hz TV or display, Performance mode is best. The flawed performance is too noticeable at 30fps, while at 60fps the situation is much smoother and VRR removes any other performance issues entirely. But, if you have a 120hz panel, the Balanced mode is the best compromise between graphics and performance. However, if you want the lowest possible latency, Performance HFR mode is here for you.

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