FSR 4 vs FSR 3 vs DLSS: FSR 4 shows remarkable improvement over FSR 3 and approaches latest DLSS version in quality

Ever since the debut of FideltyFx Super Resolution or FSR, AMD has lagged behind Nvidia in image reconstruction by quite a wide margin. With FSR 4, AMD aims to eliminate this gap in quality. Team Red has now moved FSR to machine-learning like DLSS and XeSS which could mean that FSR 4 might finally be on par with the latest iteration of DLSS.

According to an analysis done by Digital Foundry, AMD has indeed managed to improve FSR 4 massively compared to FSR 3. 

FSR 4 vs FSR 3

According to Digital Foundry’s testing, FSR 4 has improved or, in some cases, outright eliminated the issues plaguing FSR 3.

For instance, FSR 4 no longer exhibits serious ghosting in particle effects like FSR 3. DF reveals a marked improvement in particle effects in Horizon Forbidden West and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Similarly, transparency effects on surfaces like glass and water have also seen a big leap forward. 

Moreover, FSR 4 also provides much better image quality with more texture and surface details. For instance, the image produced by FSR 4 in Horizon Forbidden West in DF’s testing is sharper and looks cleaner overall.

When it comes to image stability motion, FSR 4 once again shows a big difference vs FSR 3. DF notes that FSR 4 fixes the pixelization and anti-aliasing issues. The difference is readily apparent in Horizon Forbidden West, where FSR 3 fails to resolve a stable image in motion. FSR 4's result, on the other hand, is miles better than FSR 3, with no visible problems or artifacts.

FSR 4 vs DLSS CNN and Transformer models

Per DF, FSR 4 trumps the old DLSS Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) model in image quality. AMD’s shift to machine learning has allowed FSR 4 to offer better visuals than DLS CNN. For instance, FSR 4 seems to preserve more details and a stable image than DLSS CNN in Horizon Forbidden West.

That said, the new DLSS “Transformer” model is still reportedly one step ahead of the FSR 4. Nvidia’s new DLSS model produces a more detailed image with better anti-aliasing than FSR 4, resulting in a notable difference between the image quality of FSR 4 and the DLSS Transformer.

The same is true when all three image reconstruction models are tested in cases of extreme motion. In Horizon Forbidden West, for example, FSR 4 lags behind the DLSS Transformer in terms of image stability in motion.

FSR 4 performance

While it is now established that FSR 4 is a pretty big improvement over FSR 3.1 and is also better than the DLSS CNN model, the new machine-learning tech comes at a cost. DF shows that the RX 9070 XT runs Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart in 4K with FSR 4 performance notably slower than FSR 3 and DLSS CNN. However, the DLSS Transformer is also more expensive than the DLSS CNN.

So, the new image reconstruction tech from both Nvidia and AMD are ahead of their old counterparts but incur a performance penalty.

Long story short, FSR 4 is a huge step up from FSR 3. AMD has made big gains and resolved almost all pain points associated with previous implementations of FSR. So, RDNA 4 owners will no longer be stuck with a subpar image reconstruction solution.

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