In this paper, the basic principle of permanent magnet synchronous motor direct torque control, and the torque response performance of permanent magnet synchronous motor direct torque control are investigated. PMSM model is built and simulated on MATLAB / SIMULINK platform. The simulation results show that the permanent magnet synchronous motor direct torque control system have fast torque response, good dynamic performance and can quickly follow a variety changes of given torque. But in the full range of run-time, permanent magnet synchronous motor direct torque control system has relatively large torque ripple and rich harmonics, which is the traditional permanent magnet synchronous motor direct torque control’s major defects