Nvidia GeForce GPUs could run new FSR, says AMD, with huge implications for DLSS

AMD says that the next version of FSR, currently codenamed Redstone, will work on practically any GPU, including those made by competitors such as Nvidia. Unlike FSR 4, which requires the use of AMD's dedicated AI matrix cores, and DLSS, which requires Nvidia's Tensor cores, the next version of AMD FSR will run directly on the GPU shader cores, opening it up to everyone.

If AMD's future upscaling tech looks as good as FSR 4 in action and runs on any GPU, then it could represent a serious threat to the Nvidia DLSS ecosystem, which runs exclusively on Nvidia GPUs. AMD has tried this universal approach before, of course, but previous versions of FSR looked much worse than DLSS in games, with nasty shimmering and distortion around the edges of moving objects and blurriness. But a universal version of FSR that actually looks good? That could be transformative for AMD.

In an interview with Japanese gaming site 4Gamer.net, AMD's senior director of software development, Chris Hall, explained that FSR Redstone is still based on machine learning, as with FSR 4, but it doesn't require the use of specific AI cores in a GPU. Instead, the "core part of the neural rendering technology is converted into optimized Compute Shader code" [machine translation], using AMD's ML2CODE tech. That means it could run on any GPU that can handle compute shader code, which is just about every GPU available.

Just like a pixel or vertex shader in games, a compute shader uses the stream processors (or CUDA cores) in a GPU to handle compute work, enabling GPUs to be used for all sorts of general-purpose applications outside of gaming, as well as being used for some gaming features. "Rather than executing trained AI cores at runtime," says the site, "it optimizes them as existing Compute Shader code and enables native execution."

In addition to upscaling, AMD says FSR Redstone is also going to add a host of new features based on machine learning, including neural radiance cache, ray generation, and frame generation - tech that's all currently handled by Nvidia GPUs on their Tensor cores.

FSR Redstone (which may end up being called FSR 5 when it launches) is due to launch by the end of 2025, and it could have a massive impact on the industry if it can indeed run on any GPU's shader cores, while working as well as FSR 4. On the downside, it would also mean that your GPU's shader cores are being given extra work on top of the usual 3D rendering pipeline, which could have an impact on performance.

If that impact is minimal, though, and AMD can basically replicate a large part of Nvidia DLSS 4 that works on any GPU, not just AMD's GPUs, but also older Nvidia GPUs that currently can't run frame gen or multi-frame gen with DLSS, then it could eliminate one of Nvidia's massive competitive advantages. That's assuming enough games support it, of course.

While we await more details, check out our guide to buying the best graphics card if you're looking to upgrade your GPU, where we take you through all our favorite options right now.

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