AMD has officially unveiled its FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) Redstone update, marking a significant shift towards machine-learning-based graphics enhancements. While the suite promises substantial performance gains and improved image quality, its launch is nuanced, tied exclusively to the company's latest RDNA 4 architecture and requiring a specific setup process. This announcement clarifies the roadmap for AMD's upscaling technology, bundling previously teased features under the new Redstone banner while setting expectations for future capabilities.
The Redstone Suite: A Machine-Learning Overhaul
AMD FSR Redstone represents a comprehensive update that consolidates and advances the company's performance-enhancing technologies under a machine-learning (ML) framework. The flagship component is the ML-based super resolution, previously known as FSR4, which has now been formally renamed "AMD FSR Upscaling" within the Redstone ecosystem. This technology is designed to reconstruct low-resolution images in real-time, offering sharper visuals at higher frame rates. Alongside upscaling, Redstone introduces ML-based Frame Generation, a technique that inserts AI-constructed frames between natively rendered ones to boost perceived smoothness. The company claims these ML techniques preserve image quality more effectively than the older FSR 1, 2, or 3 iterations.
FSR Redstone Feature Breakdown & Support
- Core ML Features:
- ML Super Resolution (formerly FSR4): Real-time image upscaling.
- ML Frame Generation: Inserts AI-generated frames.
- ML Ray Regeneration: AI denoising for ray tracing (1 game supported).
- ML Radiance Caching: AI-accelerated global illumination (2026 for games).
- Hardware Support:
- Full ML Suite: Exclusive to Radeon RX 9000 Series (RDNA 4).
- Fallback: On older RDNA GPUs, enables non-ML FSR 3.
- Game Support (by end of 2025):
- Upscaling: 200+ games.
- Frame Generation: 40+ games.
Exclusive Hardware Requirements and Setup Complexity
A critical detail of the FSR Redstone launch is its hardware exclusivity. The full suite of ML-based features, including the new upscaling and frame generation, is officially supported only on AMD's latest Radeon RX 9000-series graphics cards based on the RDNA 4 architecture. For users with older RDNA 3.5, RDNA 3, or RDNA 2 GPUs, enabling Redstone will cause the upscaling to fall back to the non-ML-based FSR 3 technology. Furthermore, enabling these features is not a simple in-game toggle. Users must first activate "AMD FSR Upscaling" and/or "AMD FSR Frame Generation" within the AMD Software application's Graphics settings. Only after this driver-level enablement can they select FSR 3.1 or FSR 4 within supported games to utilize the superior ML versions.
Expanded Game Support and Promised Performance
AMD has significantly expanded the library of supported titles in a short timeframe. The company states that over 200 games will support FSR Redstone upscaling by the end of 2025, more than double the number from just three months prior. Of these, over 40 titles are slated to support the new ML Frame Generation feature. The performance claims are substantial, with AMD promising over 3x the frames per second (FPS) in various titles. Specific examples include Cyberpunk 2077 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, where gains of up to 4.7x are suggested. This performance uplift is positioned as a key advantage for the RX 9000 series, especially as cards like the RX 9070 and 9070 XT are now reportedly available at their original MSRP.
Reported Performance Claims
| Game Title | Claimed FPS Increase |
|---|---|
| Various Titles | Over 3x |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | Up to 4.7x |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | Up to 4.7x |
| Performance gains are based on AMD-provided data with FSR Redstone enabled versus native rendering. |
Future Features and Current Limitations
The Redstone announcement also served to update the status of two previously highlighted technologies: Ray Regeneration and Radiance Caching. Ray Regeneration, an ML-based denoiser for ray-traced effects similar to NVIDIA's Ray Reconstruction, has made its debut in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Early impressions suggest it is slightly less polished than NVIDIA's established solution. The more advanced Radiance Caching, an ML technique for accelerating global illumination, is not yet available in any consumer title. AMD has announced a partnership with Fatshark to bring it to Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, with support in games generally expected to begin in 2026. This phased rollout indicates that the full vision of FSR Redstone is still in development.
Market Context and Adoption Challenges
The launch occurs within a specific market context. Adoption of the requisite RX 9000-series hardware appears slow; these GPUs have yet to appear in the monthly Steam Hardware Survey, suggesting they are used by less than 0.15% of the platform's users. This limited install base could affect how quickly developers prioritize integrating the full suite of Redstone features. By consolidating its ML efforts under the Redstone name and making the features driver-controlled, AMD is attempting to streamline adoption for both gamers and developers, even as it navigates the challenges of introducing a new, hardware-locked generation of technology.