AMD has announced that its next iteration of FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), currently known as ‘Redstone,’ is designed to operate on virtually any graphics card, including those from rivals like Nvidia. Unlike FSR 4, which relies on AMD’s proprietary AI matrix cores, and Nvidia’s DLSS, which requires Tensor cores, the upcoming FSR will leverage standard GPU shader cores. This innovative approach could make high-quality upscaling technology accessible to a much wider audience of gamers.
Should this future AMD upscaling technology deliver visual quality comparable to FSR 4 while maintaining its broad compatibility, it could pose a significant challenge to Nvidia’s DLSS ecosystem, which is exclusive to Nvidia GPUs. AMD has previously attempted a universal compatibility strategy, but earlier FSR versions often fell short of DLSS in visual fidelity, exhibiting artifacts like shimmering, object distortion, and blurriness. However, a genuinely high-performing, universally compatible FSR could be a game-changer for AMD and the entire industry.
In a recent interview with Japanese gaming publication 4Gamer.net, Chris Hall, AMD’s senior director of software development, elaborated that FSR Redstone, while still machine learning-based like FSR 4, will not depend on specific AI cores. Instead, the core neural rendering technology will be transformed into optimized Compute Shader code using AMD’s ML2CODE technology. This means it can run on any GPU capable of handling compute shader code, encompassing almost every modern graphics card.
Similar to how pixel or vertex shaders function in games, a compute shader employs a GPU’s stream processors (or CUDA cores) for various computational tasks. This extends the GPU’s utility beyond traditional gaming graphics to general-purpose applications and other gaming features. The site notes that instead of executing specialized AI cores at runtime, FSR Redstone optimizes them into existing Compute Shader code for native execution.
Beyond just upscaling, AMD indicates that FSR Redstone will introduce a suite of new machine learning-driven features. These include neural radiance cache, ray generation, and advanced frame generation—technologies currently handled by Nvidia GPUs primarily through their Tensor cores.
FSR Redstone, potentially branded as FSR 5 upon its release, is slated for a late 2025 launch. If it successfully runs on any GPU’s shader cores and performs on par with FSR 4, its impact on the gaming industry could be immense. The potential downside is that assigning additional work to a GPU’s shader cores, on top of the regular 3D rendering pipeline, might affect overall performance.
However, if this performance impact proves minimal, AMD could effectively provide a substantial portion of Nvidia DLSS 4’s capabilities across a vast range of GPUs—including older Nvidia cards that currently lack frame generation or multi-frame generation features with DLSS. This could effectively neutralize one of Nvidia’s key competitive advantages, provided, of course, that enough games adopt the technology.
While we await further details, consider exploring our comprehensive guide to finding the best graphics card if you’re planning an upgrade. We cover all our top recommendations currently available.
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