- Testing shows that AMD FSR 4.1 isn’t that big of an improvement over its predecessor.
- The upscaler reduced smearing, but at the trade-off of reduced image stability.
- It is still locked to RX 9000 GPUs and still lacks support for Vulkan.
AMD’s FSR has been playing catch-up to Nvidia’s DLSS ever since its introduction. While it came really close with its latest iterations, it still lags in a lot of things, and even the latest version isn’t a huge upgrade as some would’ve hoped for.
Testing reveals that FSR 4.1 does reduce smearing, but at an unwanted cost of reduced image stability and loss of detail. Additionally, it is also limited to just the RX 9000 series, which is another major downside.
Why it matters: DLSS remains a far superior choice, and some people even count that as a factor when buying GPUs. Especially how good DLSS 4.5 is, AMD now has a lot more catching up to do.
Hardware Unboxed has released an in-depth analysis of FSR 4.1. It is the same as the leaked DLL files, so the results are similar. The image quality isn’t as great as Nvidia, but there are subtle improvements.
But the issues like compromised stability and lack of universal support are still there. Additionally, it doesn’t support Vulkan either, which locks it out from various titles, which isn’t ideal if you have an RX 9000 card.
Moreover, Nvidia offers a lot of flexibility as you can choose your own DLSS version. AMD forces the FSR version on you, with no option to roll back to a previous version or change that using the app.
All in all, while FSR 4.1 is a bit of an upgrade in certain departments, the lack of wide support and software bugs still puts it a long race with Nvidia, where the latter is still too far ahead to catch up to.
What are your thoughts on FSR 4.1 not providing a meaningful upgrade? Let us know your opinions in the comments or join the discussion at the official Tech4Gamers Forum.
Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔
News Reporter
Abdullah is an avid gamer who primarily plays single-player titles. If you can’t find him anywhere, he’ll probably be at his desk playing The Witcher 3 for the millionth time. When he isn’t playing games, he’s either reading or writing about them.
Join Our Community
