Forward-looking: Gamers with AMD graphics cards have anxiously awaited the company’s answer to Nvidia’s DLSS 3 Frame Generation technology. Now that it’s here, users with a broad range of GPUs have another tool for increasing gaming performance in some titles, but how the two solutions compare remains to be seen.
Forspoken and Immortals of Aveum received PC updates on Friday to take advantage of AMD’s FSR 3. Ascendant Studios plans to implement the technology into the console versions of Immortals of Aveum. Several more games are to follow.
Like Nvidia’s DLSS 3, FSR 3 evolved out of AMD’s upscaling solution, adding the ability to insert new frames created using AI. While DLSS upscaling requires Nvidia’s RTX graphics cards with DLSS 3 Frame Generation exclusive to the RTX 4000 series, FSR 3 supports recent GPUs from all vendors.
However, not all graphic cards are created equal. AMD recommends enabling its new tech on Radeon RX 5000, Nvidia RTX 2000, or later. Although FSR 3 will activate on older GPUs, it isn’t officially supported.
The list of titles planning to add the feature includes Cyberpunk 2077, Squad, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Black Myth: Wukong, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and more. Moreover, the update applying FSR 3 to Forspoken also works with the free demo, allowing users to test it without purchasing the game.
According to AMD’s metrics, its AI-generated frames and upscaling together can sometimes quadruple frame rates compared to playing games at native resolution. While the company doesn’t offer numbers comparing the combination to upscaling alone, it does provide a chart claiming considerable gains for frame generation without upscaling.
Alongside FSR 3, AMD also introduced Native AA mode, equivalent to Nvidia’s DLAA, which applies AI-based anti-aliasing to native-resolution presentations for maximum image quality. The company claims Frame Generation eats Native AA’s performance cost to nearly double framerates.
Tech outlets, including TechSpot, will likely put FSR 3 through more rigorous testing and comparisons with DLSS 3 in the coming weeks. However, since Immortals of Aveum supports both frame generation methods, DSOGaming was able to publish an early face-off.
While FSR 3 posted slightly higher framerates than DLSS 3 at the same resolution, the website said DLSS 3 feels smoother and shows fewer visual artifacts. Interestingly, FSR 3 is compatible with Nvidia Reflex, which lowers latency and could ironically make FSR 3 perform better on Nvidia hardware than on AMD’s chips.
However, Team Red’s true advantage could emerge when FSR 3 comes to consoles. Although Ascendant Studios didn’t provide a specific date, its implementation of FSR 3 on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X version of Immortals of Aveum should give us our first look at how the tech performs outside the PC realm.