If you want your games to look good, you might think your only option is to upgrade your PC. However, there are software solutions that can get the job done, and this free AMD tool might be just what you\’re looking for.
What is AMD FSR
AMD FSR or FidelityFX Super Resolution helps boost your in-game FPS by using OpenGL upscaling and frame generation, while maintaining or even increasing the quality of graphics. You can enable this feature in the graphics settings of games that support it.
FSR is AMD\’s answer to Nvidia DLSS. Although both technologies make games look better and help boost FPS, they work very differently on the inside.
Both FSR and DLSS render your game at a lower native resolution, so it\’s easier for your PC to run, and then re-render it at a better resolution before the game reaches your monitor. As for FPS Boost, they automatically detect when your game is dropping frames and use image interpolation algorithms to fill that gap.
This leads to significant performance and visual quality gains at the cost of a little GPU headroom. AMD\’s FSR uses spatial upscaling algorithms to take low-resolution graphics and make them look more appealing. This technology is also open-source, which means it\’s easy to integrate into games and it runs on more GPUs, unlike DLSS.
We\’ve covered the difference between FSR and DLSS if you want to see a direct comparison. FSR has seen four generations since its release in 2021. Depending on which FSR version you\’re using (1, 2, 3, or 3.1), the end results will vary. Frame generation is also a new concept for FSR, recently released as FSR 3.
AMD has also teased FSR 4 with a ton of AI features. So how much of a performance improvement does FSR provide? According to AMD, you can combine upscaling and frame generation for up to 3.3 times higher frame rates on Radeon RX 7000 series GPUs when gaming at 4K or 1440p.
Games like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Ghost of Tsushima Director\’s Cut, and The Last of Us Part I deliver more than three times the FPS you get at maximum graphics settings with the FSR and Radeon RX 7000 series GPU combination.
Real-life performance will vary depending on your PC\’s configuration, particularly the GPU. Still, you can expect a huge performance boost when using FSR\’s upscaling and image generation capabilities.
Which GPUs does it work on
Since FSR is an open-source technology, it works on both AMD and Nvidia GPUs – unlike DLSS, which is specific to Nvidia hardware. Here\’s a quick chart showing the supported and recommended graphics hardware for FSR 3 and 2.
Additionally, even though FSR 3 and 2 are optimized to work with a dedicated graphics card, they can be used with select Ryzen processors that come with AMD\’s Radeon integrated graphics.
How to use AMD FSR to improve your games
Using FSR is a simple matter of enabling the setting in any game you\’re playing. Keep in mind that the game must have FSR support to be able to use the tool, so it won\’t be available in every single game.
Thankfully the list of supported games is quite long, with over 100 games supported in FSR versions. You can check out the FSR supported games page on AMD\’s website for specifics. New games are also constantly being added to the list, so chances are the game you want to play is supported.
If a game doesn\’t support AMD FSR, you can still use something called Radeon Super Resolution or RSR to improve any game you want. This technology is based on FSR 1 and should work in any special fullscreen game without any software support. The only downside is that you will need at least an AMD 5000 series GPU to run it as the feature is part of the AMD graphics driver and can only be run on AMD GPUs.
Until recently, I had a laptop with a GTX 1650 Ti, meaning I couldn\’t make use of any of the benefits that DLSS offers. However, I could play newer games like Call of Duty: Warzone, Forza Horizon 5, Warframe and Ghost of Tsushima using FSR with an average boost of about 25 to 30FPS without compromising on graphics quality.