AMD's Senior VP and GM of Computing and Graphics, Jack Huynh, recently revealed to Korean tech outlet TheElec that the company intends to launch FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (aka FSR 4) on more than just its Radeon RX 9000 and RX 7000 discrete graphics cards before 2027.
Huynh notes that the FSR 4 saturation will not only cover new APU hardware, but also existing APUs, gaming handhelds, and gaming laptops.
We will expand the machine learning and AI-based FSR 4 technology, which was preemptively introduced in existing external graphics cards, to the entire product lineup by the end of this year, including APUs, gaming laptops, and handheld devices. We plan to respond in two directions: existing APUs and launching new product lines."
Jack Huynh, AMD Senior VP and GM of Computing and Graphics (Translated from TheElec)
For us here at Windows Central, this is big news. Many of our favorite gaming handhelds, including the ROG Xbox Ally X and Legion Go, use an AMD Ryzen APU, which, to this point (and until AMD flips the switch), has only had official access to FSR 3.
I say official, because savvy enthusiasts have actually been able to get a leaked version of FSR 4 running on hardware suitable only for FSR 3 and 3.5, like the APUs used in gaming handhelds.
This hack delivered the change from FSR 3's manually tuned upscaling to FSR 4's machine learning approach, but it didn't come without some performance drawbacks.
According to Huynh, the secret to bringing FSR 4 to such a wide range of AMD GPUs is a new custom model.
We have newly developed a dedicated model of FSR 4 that is lightweight and tailored for APU environments. We are focusing on delivering excellent game graphics and low latency.
Jack Huynh, AMD Senior VP and GM of Computing and Graphics (Translated from TheElec)
AMD teased this advancement earlier this year when it unveiled FSR 4.1 for its Radeon RX 7000 GPUs, saying it needed more time to develop the lightweight alternative. About four months later, we now have confirmation that it's arriving before 2026 is through.
Is this what AMD needs to compete with Intel?
When I attended Computex this year, I had a chance to test out new gaming handhelds featuring Intel G3 and G3 Extreme chipsets.
The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, the Acer Predator Atlas 8, and the OneXPlayer 3 were all available, and I was blown away by their performance and efficiency.
My first thought, as I was enjoying some smooth gameplay on MSI's handheld, was that AMD had better cook something up quickly to compete with Intel.
Intel's package is all about superb performance with XeSS 3 multi-frame generation and low latency, with Team Blue claiming roughly 42% better performance than AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme at 35W.
If you've also had a chance to try out this latest wave of Intel handhelds, you know exactly what I'm getting at.
Part of the problem with AMD's existing handhelds is that they don't have access to machine learning upscaling, and the gap between FSR 3's hand-tuned abilities and FSR 4's AI-based approach is noticeable.
That will change whenever AMD actually drops FSR 4 down to its existing APUs. The real upshot here is that countless handheld gamers are going to suddenly get a boost without paying anything extra.
With Intel's G3/G3 Extreme handhelds generally costing significantly more than AMD alternatives, this should also help keep Ryzen-powered devices in the mix.
The bottom line here is that it's great to see AMD catching up to its competition, no matter how late it arrives. And I'll be keeping my eye on whatever next-gen APUs AMD is working on next.
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