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After months of speculation we’ve finally had our first look at AMD’s next generation RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 GPUs. But the fun doesn’t stop there, as AMD has also taken this opportunity to tell us more about FSR 4, the latest version of its previously compute-based upscaler.
The headline news here is that it’s finally getting a much needed machine learning infusion that AMD claims will boost image quality significantly—but, as we found out back in January, much like Nvidia’s RTX 50-series-dependent DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation you’ll need a brand new card to use it.
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Both the RX 9070 and the RX 9070 XT come with fully-fledged, matrix operation-supported AI accelerators, and it’s these that are required to power FSR 4. AMD says the machine learning upscaling models have been trained on AMD Instinct data center GPUs, and are accelerated by RDNA 4’s architecture to deliver much improved image quality.
DLSS has long been admired for its machine learning-based approach, and previous versions of FSR have paled in comparison to its remarkable image quality, particularly at Performance settings. Taking a look at the screenshots provided by AMD, however, it appears that machine learning may have given a similar boost to FSR.
Fine details that FSR 3.1 often ignores in Performance mode, like the spires in the Space Marine 2 screenshot below, look much crisper. I’m particularly impressed by the improvements to fine details like the foliage highlighted in the bottom right of the second screenshot, as traditionally FSR has struggled with similar details.
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The performance gains look impressive when combined with frame generation, too. Space Marine 2 running at 4K with FSR set to Performance is said to gain a massive 3.5x frame rate uplift—and if the pretty screenshots translate to smooth visuals in motion, well, it looks like many of my previous critiques of FSR may finally be solved.
That’s a fairly big ‘if’, though. I’ve had a fair bit of experience playing with previous versions of FSR, and all of them have a tendency to introduce a lot of unwanted noise to images in Performance mode that doesn’t translate well to screenshots, but is fairly obvious when introduced to some fast-paced motion. The proof is in the playing here, so I’ll be anxious to see it running for myself when I get a chance to mess around with the new GPUs.
All of this is somewhat elementary if FSR 4 support isn’t included in a large number of games, as we’ve all got grim memories of FSR 3’s two supported releases at launch. This time, however, AMD says that not only are there 30+ games ready for FSR 4 inclusion at launch (including Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, God of War: Ragnarok and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2) but over 75 more coming this year.
AMD also says that FSR 4 utilises the upgradeable FSR 3.1 API, which should help smooth over the transition.
But keep your fork, because there’s more: AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2.1 has also been announced as part of an improved version of AMD’s driver-based HYPR-RX suite. AFMF 2.1 is said to feature improved frame generation image quality with reduced ghosting and better temporal tracking, and will run on RX 6000, 7000 and 9070-series GPUs, along with AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processors. So even if you plan on keeping an older AMD card, there’s still something to celebrate here.
The HYPR-RX suite also includes AMD Radeon Anti-Lag 2, which is designed to significantly reduce latency in supported games like Apex Legends, Counter Strike 2, DOTA 2 and Ghost of Tsushima. AMD will even include a latency measuring tool as part of the AMD Adrenaline drive suite, so you can see exactly how much quicker your responses are being registered—although it won’t explain why you still keep getting killed so often in-game.
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Probably. Anyway, AMD says that with all the HYPR-RX goodies enabled (including AFMF 2.1), you’ll be getting average performance gains of 2.7x in 2025 compared to 1.5x in 2023. Big number goes up, etc, but it’s nice to see these useful features getting upgrades alongside FSR 4.
I mean, it’s not quite as big a leap as Multi Frame Generation can provide, but at least progress seems to be being made on the opposing team.
The real question here is whether FSR 4’s alleged improvements translate into increased sales of the RX 9070-series when it becomes available to purchase on March 6. The obvious benefits of Multi Frame Generation have been a huge part of Nvidia’s push for gamers to upgrade to the RTX 50-series GPUs, and while AMD still looks a step behind, some much improved upscaling and frame generation tools might help to swing the needle a little further in AMD’s direction.
It still feels somewhat behind the pace at this point when compared to the monumental achievements of DLSS, but as someone that’s put up with the, let’s say quirks of AMD’s previous upscalers, I genuinely can’t wait to see whether FSR 4’s machine learning upgrades have finally made it a comparable solution. It’s not long until I find out, but here’s hoping it provides some serious competition, at the very least.
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Kurt Indovina
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