At Computex 2024, AMD revealed FSR Redstone, a major evolution of its FidelityFX Super Resolution technology that introduces AI-accelerated ray tracing reconstruction and frame generation – but with a catch. The new upscaling suite will be exclusive to RDNA4 graphics cards, leaving RDNA2/3 owners reliant on older FSR versions.
Breaking Down AMD FSR Redstone’s Key Features
AMD’s next-gen upscaling focuses on three cutting-edge techniques:
- Neural Radiance Caching – Uses machine learning to predict indirect lighting paths, reducing the performance cost of ray-traced global illumination by up to 60% in early tests.
- ML Ray Regeneration – Similar to NVIDIA’s DLSS 3.5, this reconstructs ray-traced effects like reflections and shadows using AI, allowing higher visual fidelity at lower hardware cost.
- ML Frame Generation – A new AI-powered interpolation system promising smoother motion than FSR 3’s optical flow approach, with reduced artifacting in fast-paced scenes.
During the presentation, AMD SVP Jack Huynh emphasized these features are designed to work in tandem, creating a “full-stack upscaling pipeline” optimized for RDNA4’s upgraded AI accelerators.
The RDNA4 Exclusivity Controversy
Unlike previous AMD FSR versions that supported older GPUs, AMD confirmed FSR Redstone won’t backport to RDNA3 or RDNA2. This strategic move:
- Incentivizes upgrades to RX 9000 series cards
- Leverages RDNA4’s dedicated AI cores for better performance
- Mirrors NVIDIA’s approach with DLSS 3.x on RTX 40/50 series
However, it risks alienating owners of still-capable RX 6000/7000 GPUs. AMD did note that 60+ games will support FSR 4 by June 5, softening the blow for current-gen users.
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Release Timeline and What to Expect
Slated for late 2024, FSR Redstone’s launch window suggests it may debut alongside:
- High-end RX 9090 XT (rumored Q4 release)
- Major game patches for Star Wars Outlaws and Avowed
- Driver-level integration in AMD Adrenalin software
Early benchmarks provided to developers show 2-3x faster ray tracing performance when combining all three Redstone features versus native rendering.
Source: AMD