Cyberpunk 2077: Internal Benchmarks Now Available for Consoles

Did you spend your holiday break catching up on projects or delving into something new? I intended to focus on my overdue projects but ended up discovering something intriguing. Cyberpunk 2077 on PC comes with a variety of internal benchmarks and streaming tests, only one of which is visible to users. However, I found that it’s possible to port these benchmark sequences from the PC to consoles, thanks to a quirk in CD Projekt RED’s cross-platform save system. Surprisingly, these benchmarks work on consoles, raising the question of their usefulness.

Porting PC Benchmarks to Consoles

The PC version of the game offers the official benchmark and several others. By transferring the save files across platforms, I was able to “port” PC benchmark sequences to consoles. The process is made easy by the fact that most of these benchmark sequences auto-save during their duration or allow manual saving. While the official benchmark from the main menu cannot be saved, the others prove to be more interesting in terms of functionality and transferability.

Cyberpunk 2077 internal streaming tests running on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles – her’s how that looks in motion.

The benchmark sequences on consoles are a crucial tool for measuring the performance of different hardware under various scenarios. However, with the game’s consoles running at locked frame rates, the benchmarks differ from traditional PC benchmarking practices. While these benchmarks may not reflect the maximum performance capabilities of the hardware, they provide insight into the consistency and relative performance between different consoles.

Performance Differences Between Consoles

In Cyberpunk 2077’s 60fps performance mode, there are noticeable differences between the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Series S. Three out of the four benchmarks show close performance matches between the consoles, with a slight advantage to the PS5. However, in one of the benchmarks, the PS5 can reach a maximum of 12fps higher than the Series X. These differences are noteworthy, especially considering the assumptions about the performance mode being CPU-limited. Interpreting standard benchmarking metrics for the consoles may not be entirely valid due to the cap at 60fps, but they provide valuable insights into the consistency and performance of the consoles.

Only one test stresses the consoles enough to show performance differences under load. Here we’re comparing worst case scenario Series X up against PS5 and a PC running at the same settings using console equivalent parts.

The differences in performance between the consoles prompt further investigation into the underlying causes. Despite the assumptions that the Xbox should perform better, the differences persist. Upon comparing the quality presets chosen for the consoles, it is evident that while both utilize FSR 2 upscaling, the dynamic resolution ranges differ. These differences offer insights into the relative performance of the consoles and suggest potential optimization opportunities for developers.

Analysis and Conclusion

To further explore these performance differences, I replicated the console settings on a PC built from console parts and tested out the benchmarks. The results indicate the potential impact of APIs, GPU compilers, and dynamic resolution formulas on the performance differences observed between the consoles and PC. While the exercise may seem academic, the results remain compelling. They highlight the intricacies of game development and the opportunities for optimizing console performance. It makes me wonder if there are similar features available in other games, such as The Witcher 3 or its expansions.