AMD has announced the next-generation of FidelityFX Super Resolution, or FSR, with the GPU manufacturer adding its own version of frame generation to the suite of optimization tools.
FSR 3 introduces a frame-generation technique similar to that found in Nvidia’s DLSS 3, but without the requirement to own the latest AMD GPU (or even an AMD GPU at all). Unlike Nvidia’s method, which uses motion vector data from individual frames and utilizes specific optical flow hardware on RTX 40-series cards, AMD leverages software to make up for the missing hardware. The process for injecting synthetic frames in between ones rendered by the game remains the same, but its effectiveness now more heavily relies on how well the underlying game is running.
Since FSR 3 will use software to perform the optical flow calculations, attempting to use frame generation on games already struggling to maintain a relatively high frame rate won’t produce great results, introducing stutter and latency. AMD recommends that a game be running at around 60fps already before trying to apply frame generation on top of that, meaning that it’s gear more towards boosting already good frame rates into much higher territory for high-refresh rate display and not a silver bullet for getting poorly running ones more smoothly. This is also the case with Nvidia’s own frame generation technique, despite its use of dedicated hardware, so it shouldn’t be too surprising.