AMD’s machine learning upscaler, FSR Upscaling 4.1, is coming to the ROG Xbox Ally family. AMD says the tech now covers handhelds running Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, Ryzen Z2 Extreme and Ryzen Z2 A processors, and ASUS has confirmed a preview driver for the ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally X20, with the original ROG Xbox Ally to follow.
Both companies made the announcement on 20th October. According to AMD’s newsroom, FSR Upscaling 4.1 reconstructs crisp, high-quality visuals from lower-resolution frames and delivers “a significant leap in image quality” over FSR 3.1. AMD also says Xbox Series X|S consoles are getting it too, though only “coming soon” so far.
A lighter model built for handhelds
AMD says it has introduced “a new, more efficient version” of FSR Upscaling 4.1 that is purpose-built for hardware including the Z2 range. This streamlined model is designed to deliver a high level of performance on handhelds, and AMD claims the jump in visual fidelity will be clear “even on the small screens of portable gaming devices”. It names the ROG Xbox Ally X, which uses the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, as one of the devices that should benefit.
ASUS puts a number on the efficiency. In its ROG announcement, it says the model running on the Ally X and X20 is less than half the size of the original INT8 model. ASUS adds that the technology uses neural networks to reconstruct visuals that “match or exceed native rendering quality” while boosting performance. That’s ASUS’s claim, and we haven’t tested it.
FSR Upscaling 4.1 is part of AMD’s FSR “Redstone” suite of ML-powered features, which also includes FSR Frame Generation, FSR Ray Regeneration and FSR Radiance Caching. On handhelds, AMD’s FSR page lists upscaling only, so don’t expect the other Redstone features on the Ally just yet. AMD’s page says the tech works in over 400 supported games, and ASUS says the same figure applies on the Ally, including older games that support FSR Upscaling 3.1 or newer.
How to try the preview on your Ally
ASUS says the preview update for the ROG Xbox Ally X and X20 was due on 23rd October, and that the original ROG Xbox Ally will also be supported through a GPU driver update “coming soon”. ASUS’s key points list all three handhelds as getting the preview, so its own wording isn’t entirely consistent on the base model’s timing. Here’s the process ASUS describes:
- Open Armoury Crate SE on your Ally and go to Update Center > Preview Updates to download the latest GPU driver.
- Enable FSR Upscaling in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition. You can also open the Command Center, press Y to customise the layout and add the new FSR Upscaling tile.
- Launch a supported game and switch on FSR in its graphics settings. ASUS says you may need to restart the game for it to take effect.
ASUS says the Command Center toggle will also turn on the ML-powered upscaling in older games with FSR Upscaling 3.1 or newer. It also advises against combining FSR with RSR, the system-level upscaler, which it says is only meant for games that don’t support FSR.
This is a preview, so ASUS warns it “may still contain bugs or instability”. If you’d rather keep things stable, wait for it to leave preview. It will then roll out automatically and appear in the Official Updates tab. ASUS is also asking for bug reports to help refine the final release.
Not from AMD’s main driver
If you’re wondering why the Ally isn’t in the headline list for AMD’s Adrenalin 26.10.1 driver, there’s a reason. The 26.10.1 release notes list FSR Upscaling 4.1 support for Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics and Ryzen AI Max and Ryzen AI 9 processors. They also state that Adrenalin Edition “does not include support for handheld gaming devices” and tell users to check with the manufacturer for device-specific drivers. For the Ally, that means the ASUS route above. AMD’s newsroom adds that feature availability and timing may vary by device, so check with the handheld maker for official timelines.
Xbox Series X|S next
AMD says Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet confirmed in the announcement video that FSR Upscaling 4.1 is coming soon to Xbox Series X|S. There’s no date and no list of games yet. We’ve not found any further details in AMD’s or ASUS’s material, so we’ll update this story when Xbox says more.
Official sources: AMD Newsroom · AMD FSR technologies · Adrenalin 26.10.1 release notes · AMD Gaming announcement post · ASUS ROG
