AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), performance test and image quality comparison
AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR)
A few days ago AMD made official FidelityFX Super Resolution, the long-awaited technology that aims to compete with Nvidia's DLSS and promises to improve the framerate of games with minimal impact on visual quality. As explained in the announcement, the technology is completely open, supports both AMD and Nvidia cards and above all is compatible with older generations of cards, going back up to the GTX 1000 series and the RX 480/470/460 family.AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, abbreviated FSR, on paper is a godsend for all gamers, especially in times like these where buying a video card is virtually impossible. FidelityFX Super Resolution offers four different presets, called Ultra Quality, Quality, Balanced and Performance, each of which increasingly “sacrifices” the graphic quality in favor of the framerate. According to the statements of AMD during the presentation, choosing the "Ultra Quality" preset will produce an image with a quality almost identical to the native rendering, with the "Quality" option instead you will get a high quality image and the same time, a good performance boost. "Balanced" is a preset that seeks to create a balance between image quality and performance, finally "Performance" sacrifices quality in favor of a larger framerate increase.
The games that currently support the technology are Godfall, The Riftbreaker, Anno 1800, Evil Genius 2: World Domination, Terminator Resistance, Kingshunt and 22 Racing Series. We decided to put FidelityFX Super Resolution to the test with Godfall, to better evaluate both the improvement in the framerate and the change in image quality. We tested in both Full HD and 4K and with three different graphics cards: Radeon RX 6800 XT, Radeon RX 590 and GeForce GTX 1660.
Performance increase
Let's start by talking about the performance increase guaranteed by FidelityFX Super Resolution. As anticipated, we used the Radeon RX 6800 XT to carry out our 4K resolution tests, while for Full HD we chose the RX 590 and GTX 1660, in order to evaluate the functioning of the FSR technology also on Nvidia GPUs. Below you can find three graphs with the test results, obtained by running the benchmark integrated in Godfall and with the “Epic” graphic preset.At 4K resolution the Radeon RX 6800 XT manages to reach 60 FPS even at native resolution, without the aid of FSR. By activating FidelityFX Super Resolution we see a noticeable improvement in performance already with the Ultra Quality preset, which increases the framerate by 43.7%. The FPS obtained in the test increases as you move to settings that give more weight to the FPS than to the graphic quality: by selecting the Performance profile, the RX 6800 XT records 143.1 FPS, 2.15 times more than the test with FSR disabled.
In Full HD the Radeon RX 590 does not reach 60 FPS, stopping at 47.3 FPS. By activating the FSR in Ultra Quality mode, the situation improves and we reach 56.6 FPS, an increase of almost 20% which, however, does not yet allow us to reach the threshold of 60 FPS. With the Quality profile the RX 590 touches 61.6 FPS, marking a performance increase of 30% and finally exceeding the fateful 60 frames per second. Finally, with the Performance profile the card totals 69.1 FPS, 46% more than the native resolution.
The performance improvement offered is not at the levels of that seen before on the Radeon RX 6800 XT and the percentage variations they are decidedly more contained, however FidelityFX Super Resolution still allows you to play in Full HD at 60 FPS without having to lower the quality of the details.
With the GTX 1660 we do not see a situation too different from that told before with the Radeon RX 590: with FSR disabled the card stops at 43.6 FPS, while with the Ultra Quality profile it reaches 53.7 FPS, marking an increase of 23.2%. This time we can only exceed 60 FPS with the Balanced profile, which improves the framerate by 45% and allows us to reach 63.4 FPS with the highest graphic quality. With the Performance mode you reach 66.7 FPS, a 53% increase.
Visual experience
After seeing how performance changes, now let's focus on how the quality of the image with the various FidelityFX Super Resolution settings. Below are several screenshots of the same game scene, where we compare the native 4K quality with the various presets of the FidelityFX Super Resolution.jQuery (document) .ready (function () {edinet_juxtapose ({id: 's4910271973cf8c20c92ad39daa8cd04b591e1', img1: 'https://www.tomshw.it/images/images/2021/06/godfall-4k-nativo-169856.992x558.jpg', label1: '4K native', img2: 'https: / /www.tomshw.it/images/images/2021/06/godfall-4k-fsr-ultraquality-169858.992x558.jpg ', label2:' 4K FSR Ultra Quality '})});
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Taking a look at the different images, we can see that there is not much difference between the native 4K and the various FSR presets. Unfortunately, the images are compressed and detail is lost, but we can assure you that, as far as 4K is concerned, by observing the scene as a whole and in a moving situation, i.e. playing rather than stopping to observe the details of the setting, the loss of quality caused by FidelityFX Super Resolution is really minimal.
The intervention of the FSR can be seen instead if we zoom the screenshots on some details, such as the decoration under the character's feet or the column in the background. Here we leave you again some comparison images, again taken from the 4K resolution screenshots.
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As we can see from these screenshots, already with the FidelityFX Super Resolution in Ultra Quality mode there are some losses of detail: the decoration you see in the first comparison is slightly less defined, while the column loses some veins of the marble in the lower part, which are more faded.
Finally, we leave you a comparison, always zoomed in, between the native 4K and the FSR in Performance mode. From this image it is possible to better see the work of FidelityFX Super Resolution, in particular it is easy to see how the statue on the left, the staircase at the bottom and the character himself are less defined and detailed due to the upscaling done by the algorithm. However, the fact remains that, playing, the difference is less noticeable and in our opinion it remains acceptable, also given the considerable increase in the framerate.
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If at 4K resolution the intervention of FidelityFX Super Resolution is noticeable in a "minimal" way, the situation changes at Full HD resolution. Below we propose the comparisons seen before, between the native image in 1080p and the result obtained by applying the various presets of FidelityFX Super Resolution.
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In 1080p, the entire image already shows a progressive loss of quality and detail as you set up profiles that prioritize performance. Let's take as a reference the large cross on the ceiling with a central spike: already with the Ultra Quality preset we see a decrease in detail, which is further reduced when you switch to the Quality preset. By choosing Balanced or Performance, the graphic quality decreases further and the changes are more noticeable even in the foreground, for example on the cobblestones of the floor, on the character and on the sword he is holding.
Given the visual experience you have in Full HD, we asked ourselves: is it better to play in 1080p with FSR, or in native 720p? To answer the question, we compared the 1080p image with FSR Quality with the 720p image without FSR. The reason for this choice is quite simple: the RX 590 in the 720p benchmark reaches 60.5 FPS, practically the same result as in Full HD with the FSR mode set to Quality. Since the two settings offer the same framerate, it makes sense to choose the one that guarantees the best visual quality.
Looking at the two screenshots there doesn't seem to be much difference, but the compression this time plays in favor of 720p: from vivo we can assure you that the Full HD image offers superior quality. The zoom you find below gives a very good idea of what happens: at 720p the image is much less defined and the one in 1080p is better, despite the loss of detail caused by the upscaling of the FSR algorithm. To answer the question asked earlier: it is better to play in Full HD and activate FSR.
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Conclusions
After seeing how much FidelityFX Super Resolution improves performance and what impact it has on game graphics, it's time to take stock. AMD's technology is undoubtedly interesting and we can only welcome it positively, especially for two reasons: it is completely open and supports many Nvidia and AMD video cards, even older generation ones. In addition to this, FSR is compatible with the integrated GPUs of Ryzen APUs, with notebook video cards and with Xbox Series X and PS5; in short, many gamers will be able to benefit from it.The impact of technology on image quality is more noticeable as the resolution drops, but as we saw in the last comparison, playing at higher resolution Active FSR still offers higher visual quality than at lower resolution. In practice, if you have a mid-to-high-end card that approaches 60 FPS in 4K, with FSR you can play in 4K at 60 FPS without noticing particular graphical deteriorations. If, on the other hand, you have an outdated video card, with FidelityFX Super Resolution you can play in Full HD, at 60 FPS and with a better quality than what you would have playing at 720p.
Of course, the number of compatible games is still low and the titles that will arrive do not make fans cry for a miracle, with some exceptions such as Far Cry 6, but the premises are really good. Compatibility with consoles could also push many developers to integrate the technology into their games and this would also have a positive effect on the PC versions of the same.
We close with the question that you are all asking yourself from the beginning of the article : How is FSR compared to DLSS? We can't do a direct and in-depth comparison right now, as there are no games that support both technologies. In general, however, we can say that, for the moment, the DLSS looks better. Nvidia has been working on the technology for longer, the neural network behind the DLSS is trained and the result is that in some cases the algorithm returns an even better image than it does natively; conversely, FidelityFX Super Resolution is new and needs to be further improved. The impression is that, as was the case with the ray tracing implementation, AMD has laid a very good foundation to start from, but still has to work to get to the same level as Nvidia.
