FSR 4 is still RDNA 4 only, are Radeon gamers with RDNA 2 or RDNA 3 GPUs being left behind?

Ever since AMD announced and released its latest FSR 4 update for its new RDNA 4 generation of graphics cards, which shifted its Super Resolution upscaling algorithm to a powerful AI solution, existing Radeon gamers with RDNA 2 or RDNA 3 GPUs have been wondering whether they've been officially left behind.

Although AMD hasn't formally announced that FSR 4 support is coming to RDNA 3 and RDNA 2 GPUs like the Radeon RX 7900 XTX or Radeon RX 6800 XT, the company has continued to state that FSR is open source and platform-agnostic. This means FSR 4, like FSR 3, should be available to all Radeon gamers, alongside PC gamers with GeForce RTX cards. However, that's not the case - and the feeling is that it might never be.

AMD's big FSR Redstone update for FSR 4 is set to launch on December 10, alongside a presentation on its new AI-powered features, including Ray Regeneration, Neural Radiance Caching, and Frame Generation. But, these "new performance and visual enhancements" will be exclusive to RDNA 4-powered Radeon RX 9000 Series graphics cards. Once again, leaving RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 Radeon gamers behind.

• Read more: AMD's big FSR Redstone update for Radeon GPUs is set to arrive on December 10
• Read more: AMD improves FSR 3 upscaling quality in update that also paves the way for FSR Redstone
• Read more: AMD's FSR 4 could work on Xbox Series X but not PlayStation 5

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With the company reiterating this with its latest marketing post on social media, the 'This Is Why We Game' tagline for FSR Redstone is not going down well. Again, although AMD hasn't made any promises or announcements that FSR 4 support was coming to more GPUs in the near future, the fact that leaked FSR 4 source code shows that it can run on RDNA 3 GPUs using an Int8 version, Radeon RX 7000 and RX 6000 Series owners are still hoping for an announcement.

And the reason for that is simple: FSR 4 image quality finally makes it a viable DLSS alternative or competitor, especially when gaming at lower resolutions like 1080p or 1440p. In fact, the consensus that FSR 4 support needs to reach more Radeon gamers extends to the PC gaming handheld market, as devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Xbox Ally X feature integrated RDNA 2 and RDNA 3.5 graphics. With improved image quality, FSR 4 would be a game-changer for these devices and even Valve's upcoming Steam Machine.

Granted, we're excited about what FSR Redstone will bring to the table, and we're currently testing the preview release of Ray Regeneration in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. It's set to upgrade FSR's feature set to better align with DLSS 4 and finally bring Path Tracing to a GPU like the Radeon RX 9070 XT in a big way.

At least that's the hope. Time will tell, and we won't have to wait long to find out. Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot longer to find out if and when FSR 4's suite of upgrades will come to more Radeon graphics cards. And on that front, we're still hoping for an FSR 4 for RDNA 3 and RDNA 2 teaser during the FSR Redstone reveal.