Some people, myself included until I saw this news, may not have known that AMD seemingly revealed FSR4 for older Radeon graphics cards last month. Now, just a month later, it appears Valve appears to be adding a version of AMD’s FSR4 technology to Steam and Proton, which could theoretically allow Steam Machine and potentially Steam Deck users to effectively upgrade FSR3-supported games to FSR4.
For those unfamiliar, FSR is AMD‘s answer to Nvidia’s DLSS. It’s an upscaling technology that allows games to be rendered at a lower resolution, such as 720p, before being upscaled to a higher resolution like 1080p. The goal is to deliver a sharper image while reducing the workload on the GPU.
It’s not just about image quality, either. Because the game is being rendered at a lower internal resolution, FSR can also improve frame rates, making demanding games run more smoothly without requiring more powerful hardware.
What’s particularly exciting about the prospect of FSR4 coming to Steam Machine and, hopefully, Steam Deck is that it could address some of the most common complaints surrounding FSR3, including ghosting, shimmering, and visual artifacts, while still delivering the performance benefits that make upscaling technologies so appealing in the first place.
Additionally, according to Brad Lynch on X (formerly Twitter), this version of FSR4 has been tweaked by Valve and differs from AMD’s own implementation. What exactly Valve has changed remains a mystery for now, at least until users can get their hands on it and start digging through the details themselves.
I have to admit, I’ve always been a little wary of the industry’s growing reliance on upscaling technologies. Ideally, I’d prefer games to be optimized well enough to run smoothly on weaker hardware straight out of the box. That said, the reality is that modern games are becoming increasingly demanding, and tools like FSR can provide a meaningful boost to both image quality and performance.
Of all the ways AI is being integrated into gaming, upscaling is probably one of the easiest for me to get behind. If this implementation really can bring FSR4 improvements to a wider range of hardware, that’s a win for players. Hopefully, it also finds its way to Steam Deck and isn’t reserved solely for Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine.
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