Imagine it like only 1 "terraflop" is  being used to mechanise/enable the game world, a.i etc , the rest is being used to add fidelity and performance. 

This is the reality for 95% of games. Remember that Switch titles Zelda Breath of the Wild, Tears of the kingdom and Donkey Kong Bonanza are probably amongst the more complex CPU gameplay systems in recent AAA titles. They're more interactive than a lot of their Playstation 5 peers. For the most part modern games CPUs are just taxed through busy crowds etc.

A lot of GPU power just goes towards  fidelity features, crowd/enemy density, both of which can often be scaled back. The rest towards performance goals like 60fps.

Some of this is maybe criticism on the state of creativity within the industry but it's mostly just diminishing returns. You only need 3 colours (RGB) to make all the colours visible to the eye, so even though someone with 30 colours can be more efficient and creative, whatever they're doing can technically be made with 3. Now replace colours with "flops" lol. 

There maybe areas like  AI driven contexual animation, NPC interaction or physics  that will be computationally very complex in the future but for now developers are sticking with the tried and tested/scripted approach and rarely do games function depend on GPU bottlenecks.

Ok, Michael Pachter :D

Just bought a PS5 Pro less than 2 months ago on Christmas day 2025 and i’m planning to have it as my primary console for at least 4 years down the line.

Not getting a PS6 until 2029/2030 which feels ideal to me to release the console in since the PS5 has a lot to offer for easily several years to come.

Thinking out loud, if the ps6 has FSR4 upscaling, wouldn't that allow a large jump over the ps5? The ps6 could render at lower resolutions (1080p-1440p), freeing up resources for other graphical enhancement and frame rate jumps? Feels like the poor upscaling on the ps5 is a huge barrier and that needs to be fixed.

I swear, I could be overestimating, but when I do 4k versus 4k DLSS, the latter damn near doubles my fps.

Personally i prefer to have astonishing graphics at 1440p than mediorce graphics on 4k.

That will be the case for Gen 10 it seems since pc gpus with 100 terraflops are really out of reach for mainstream due pricing.

Wholly agreed.  I would add, 1440p at 120 fps (or 60 fps) > 4k at 60 fps (or 30 fps).  

The debate frames rates vs Resolution is a bit tricky. In PC monitors that you see 4K detail more easily due to monitor distance i would prefer 4K 60 Frames in single player games.

For multiplayer Shooters or Console gaming on TVs that you don't stand very close , maby more fps is preferable.

Fair.  I PC game on my TV, which I sit 8ft away, so 1440p looks great.  I do think the other issue with monitors is their built-in upscalers are complete crap.  TVs, especially the nice ones, upscalers are quite nice.

Yep. The PS5 Pro will  also have FSR4 or at least a version of it. I'm sure PS6 will launch with the next generation version if its 2028 or later.

Either way, plenty of resources will be freed up but realistically the issue going forward is most games/developers will not scale much beyond RT and framerate. This is typically the point in a generation where you start seeing huge gulfs between high end console and PC graphics but that's not really happening outside of pathtraycing, Image quality and framerate. The games themselves are remaining the same just a bit better looking. Ultimately I think it is a much smaller niche who will pick apart image quality above 1440p or frame rates above 60fps, so there is less incentive for Sony to hurry out new hardware. Even Path traycing doesn't necessarily make a huge difference to a game when it already have HQ baked lighting. 

Fair points.  I especially agree with RT and path tracing.  I typically go low, sometimes medium on RT, I just don't see how the lighting is that much better, not when it cuts my fps in half (if not more).  Only game RT really impressed me was Spiderman.  Path tracing on Indiana was meh, i wasn't blown away.  Maybe some day it will be nice, but that day isn't today.