AMD FSR 4 integration could be a simple drop-in upgrade for current FSR 3.1 games

[zohaibahd]

Cutting corners: AMD might have a clever solution to rapidly roll out their upcoming FSR4 upscaling technology to a wide range of games. According to a reliable tipster, the company could provide a straightforward "drop-in" upgrade path from FSR 3.1 to FSR4 for games already implementing the current version.

The concept is straightforward: instead of requiring game developers to integrate an entirely new version of FSR, AMD could replace the backend FSR library file. This would allow any game already supporting FSR 3.1 to seamlessly benefit from FSR4's enhanced upscaling quality with minimal effort from developers.

The report comes from Kepler_L2, who shared the details in response to a VideoCardz post on X.

The RDNA4 driver replaces FSR 3.1 DLL with FSR4

– Kepler (@Kepler_L2) January 25, 2025

As of now, AMD hasn't confirmed any details regarding an upgrade path for FSR4. The company only briefly showcased FSR4 at CES, where it was presented as a clear visual improvement over FSR 3.1.

If this rumored upgrade plan proves accurate, we could see over 40 existing FSR 3.1-compatible games upgraded to FSR4 immediately upon launch. AMD currently lists over 100 games with existing or upcoming support for FSR 3/3.1, which could provide a strong foundation for the rollout.

However, there's a catch. Kepler_L2 notes that FSR 3 compatibility alone may not be sufficient and that only games using FSR 3.1 would qualify for the seamless upgrade. This requirement is likely due to FSR 3.1 being the first version where upscaling and frame generation libraries were separated, simplifying integration. As a result, some games may need to be updated to FSR 3.1 before they can take advantage of FSR4.

In terms of improvements, AMD's CES demo showcased FSR4 delivering superior 4K upscaling quality compared to FSR 3.1. The new AI-powered upscaler will leverage dedicated AI acceleration hardware found in RDNA4 GPUs. FSR4 is also expected to offer enhanced frame generation for better performance and a revamped "Anti-Lag 2" feature designed to minimize latency.

That said, FSR4's benefits come with a significant caveat: it will initially be exclusive to AMD's next-generation Radeon RX 9070 GPU, part of the RDNA4 lineup. Despite this limitation, an easy upgrade path for the existing library of FSR-compatible games would provide a strong launchpad for the new technology.

For now, it remains to be seen whether AMD will pursue this rumored strategy.

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AMD FSR 4 integration could be a simple drop-in upgrade for current FSR 3.1 games

 

[Anthony j]

It’s very disheartening if it’s true that FSR4 will only be available to the new 9070 series of cards, especially for us 7900 owners. I just might have to go the route of the 5080/5090 if I can find one for msrp

 

[Ohnooze]

It’s very disheartening if it’s true that FSR4 will only be available to the new 9070 series of cards, especially for us 7900 owners. I just might have to go the route of the 5080/5090 if I can find one for msrp

Totally agree.

Huge disappointment. At a minimum the 7900xtx and 7900xt. Considering the 7900xtx will still be their fastest card, it's kind of stupid that it won't have this option.

And I agree....I may upgrade to an Nvidia card as well for the rtx, dlss and frame gen.

 

[maroon1]

There is not many games that actually use FSR3.1 anyway. Most games are using FSR3 or older.

 

[yRaz]

It’s very disheartening if it’s true that FSR4 will only be available to the new 9070 series of cards, especially for us 7900 owners. I just might have to go the route of the 5080/5090 if I can find one for msrp

Totally agree.

Huge disappointment. At a minimum the 7900xtx and 7900xt. Considering the 7900xtx will still be their fastest card, it's kind of stupid that it won't have this option.

And I agree....I may upgrade to an Nvidia card as well for the rtx, dlss and frame gen.

Well let's keep in mind, that AMD made FSR free to use for everyone and that FSR4's more advanced features will be limited to the 90 series because they actually had to make hardware charges. It isn't softlocked like DLSS on nVidia cards, but DLSS still uses specialized units on nVidia cards where it won't run on AMD or Intel cards.

AMD had a good run with FSR being open to everyone, let's see if FSR4 being generational locked is the exception, not the rule. Hacked drivers have shown that all of DLSS's features can run on all series of NV cards. AMD will be releasing an open source driver of the 90s series and we will be able to see for our selves if this is a hardware level thing.

 

[HardReset]

It’s very disheartening if it’s true that FSR4 will only be available to the new 9070 series of cards, especially for us 7900 owners. I just might have to go the route of the 5080/5090 if I can find one for msrp

Totally agree.

Huge disappointment. At a minimum the 7900xtx and 7900xt. Considering the 7900xtx will still be their fastest card, it's kind of stupid that it won't have this option.

And I agree....I may upgrade to an Nvidia card as well for the rtx, dlss and frame gen.

This is very probably hardware limitation. RDNA4 should have some new compute units for frame gen and if that is true then full backwards compatibility is simply impossible.

And since your current cards is missing something on Hardware, you will buy Nvidia? FYI some new features on Nvidia are also exclusive to 5000 series. Your comments make zero sense.

Just remember that Nvidia saying they cannot make faster cards and Have to use fake frames is total BS. Nvidia have recycled GPU tech for almost a decade now and say they Have to use fake frames because Nvidia is just lazy.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Ah yes, the old "AMD is feature locking stuff behind its new cards like Nvidia does, so I'm going to buy an Nvidia card to teach AMD a lesson" logic :-D

Let's be honest, someone with a 7900XTX/XT only has Nvidia to upgrade to this generation anyway.

9070XT was at best going to be a side-grade in raster with a OK bump in RT anyway, it was never going to woo away 7900 owners, it's targeted squarely at the AMD 6xxx series crowd and Nvidia 3060 and down crowd.

 

[Ohnooze]

This is very probably hardware limitation. RDNA4 should have some new compute units for frame gen and if that is true then full backwards compatibility is simply impossible.

And since your current cards is missing something on Hardware, you will buy Nvidia? FYI some new features on Nvidia are also exclusive to 5000 series. Your comments make zero sense.

Just remember that Nvidia saying they cannot make faster cards and Have to use fake frames is total BS. Nvidia have recycled GPU tech for almost a decade now and say they Have to use fake frames because Nvidia is just lazy.

I'm saying if I want any upgrade at all I have to go with Nvidia. This is why I said "I may upgrade to an Nvidia card as well for the rtx, dlss and frame gen".
Again if I want to upgrade anything it's obviously going to be for the things I listed because AMD has nothing else to offer except a slower card with a little better ray tracing and FSR4.
Now if FSR4 was compatible with the xtx and was so good that I could get better fps with ray tracing on I might would skip the upgrade and keep my xtx. But FSR4 not running on my xtx makes it a sure thing that if I do upgrade it will be for Nvidia. And honestly I prefer AMD but it is what it is.

 

[Ohnooze]

Let's be honest, someone with a 7900XTX/XT only has Nvidia to upgrade to this generation anyway.

That was my point.
Again "if FSR4 was compatible with the xtx and was so good that I could get better fps with ray tracing on I might would skip the upgrade and keep my xtx. But FSR4 not running on my xtx makes it a sure thing that if I do upgrade it will be for Nvidia".

 

[kiwigraeme]

It's all getting a bit complicated for gamers. Given the fact that X% people wearing bras are wearing the wrong size when only about 3 factors to consider.
How much will the average consumer be on less than optimal settings for PC gaming

probably needs to be a community resource - enter CPU/Memory/GPU , game , resolution wanted , rtx wanted

best on your GPU - 1080p at these setting , 2 frames generated, upscaled to 4K

Seems for Nvidia best is already a mix - obviously in RTX open world, slow moving different story

Upscalers seem to still give most bang for bucks and are getting very good - with less chance of jarring artifacts of frame generators ( things flashing in and out of existence )

 

[yRaz]

It's all getting a bit complicated for gamers. Given the fact that X% people wearing bras are wearing the wrong size when only about 3 factors to consider.
How much will the average consumer be on less than optimal settings for PC gaming

probably needs to be a community resource - enter CPU/Memory/GPU , game , resolution wanted , rtx wanted

best on your GPU - 1080p at these setting , 2 frames generated, upscaled to 4K

Seems for Nvidia best is already a mix - obviously in RTX open world, slow moving different story

Upscalers seem to still give most bang for bucks and are getting very good - with less chance of jarring artifacts of frame generators ( things flashing in and out of existence )

I'm having a hard time seeing any of the new tech nVidia is bring as a BAD thing, it's just not what anyone wanted. Now that the controversy os starting to settle down I'm sure we'll see how market reacts to it.

I just have a hard time seeing the 5070 as a $550 card. I don't see any of their products as bad, just priced wrong. I'm not against fake frames and am actually a really big fan of upscaling as a 4k gamer.

There is just a certain "unease" surrounding the whole thing right now.

For me, personally, nVidia is going to have to make a push on Linux support before I'm willing to switch back. I'm not against the tech, the 5070 seems like a good card for the price if it manages to stay at MSRP, but I am against the 12GB of VRAM. I will likely go with the 9070xt this year simply because of Linux support so I can't use any of NV tech ANYWAY. Maybe things will change once steamOS is released.

I think NV has established what direction they want to take the market and if SteamOS ends up being big enough, I think the 60 series will likely have good Linux drivers. Valve already had steaming gaming down, now we just need hardware support from nVidia to make a true Linux desktop viable for the average consumers.