AMD FSR Redstone is here, AI-powered Upscaling and Frame Generation for RDNA 4

AMD's FSR has entered a new era with the arrival of FSR 'Redstone' for the RDNA 4 generation of graphics cards, led by the flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT. By leveraging machine learning (ML) and AI, FSR 'Redstone' is a suite of four new technologies designed to enhance the performance and fidelity of PC gaming, beginning with the arrival of FSR 4's impressive AI-powered Super Resolution (FSR Upscaling) earlier this year.

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And with that, FSR 4 is now called AMD FSR Upscaling (ML), powered by a new ML-based algorithm that delivers a dramatic improvement in image quality when upscaling from lower resolutions to 1080p, 1440p, or 4K. We've already covered this extensively in our reviews of various RDNA 4 GPUs like the Radeon RX 9060 XT, RX 9070, and RX 9070 XT, and it's a game-changer when compared to previous FSR versions like FSR 3 and FSR 4.

As part of AMD's big FSR 'Redstone' reveal, the company has confirmed that FSR Upscaling (ML) is exclusive to FSR 4, and that previous Radeon generations, including RDNA 2 and RDNA 3, will use the older non-AI version, now called FSR Upscaling (Analytical). This brings us to the next FSR 'Redstone' technology making its debut with today's announcement - AMD FSR Frame Generation (ML).

• 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: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Season 01 now supports three AMD FSR Redstone technologies

FSR Frame Generation (ML) upgrades AMD's Frame Generation technology for the RDNA 4 generation with a new AI approach powered by a neural network trained on "demanding scenarios in modern games" to create or generate new frames to improve performance and smoothness in high frame-rate titles.

Compared to the previous version of FSR Frame Generation, now called FSR Frame Generation (Analytical), the new AI-powered approach reduces image artifacts, such as ghosting. It also improves detail in areas like shadows, resulting in a more stable image. FSR Frame Generation (ML) is a complex, advanced Frame Generation technology that leverages current and prior frame data, motion vectors, and Optical Flow to generate each new frame - similar to DLSS Frame Generation. This brand-new technology, exclusive to RDNA 4, is set to arrive in over 30 games by the end of the year.

FSR Ray Regeneration (ML), available in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, is an AI-powered denoiser similar to DLSS Ray Reconstruction technology, built for ray tracing. Compared to traditional denoisers, it leverages AI to restore and enhance detail in ray-traced lighting effects, such as reflections. The effect, which you can see in the image above, turns a previously fuzzy or noisy image into a crisp and detailed one, which makes FSR Ray Regeneration (ML) a game-changer for ray-tracing on RDNA 4. Although it's currently limited to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, FSR Ray Regeneration is coming to more titles in the future.

The next, and final, FSR 'Redstone' technology is another game-changer for ray-tracing, but it's not set to drive in games until 2026. FSR Radiance Caching, also exclusive to RDNA 4, is best explained as FSR Upscaling for ray-tracing calculations, more or less. It accelerates ray-tracing performance by leveraging AI with a Neural Radiance Cache to infer complex ray-traced lighting calculations "as soon as the second ray intersection." AMD has demonstrated the technology in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, where it will deliver similar results to NVIDIA's RTX Neural Radiance Cache. FSR Radiance Caching is still being fine-tuned, so the first games to support it won't arrive until 2026.

Stay tuned for more on FSR 'Redstone,' including our hands-on review of FSR Upscaling (ML) and FSR Frame Generation (ML) in the coming days.