The video reveals an accidentally leaked INT8 version of AMD’s FSR4 upscaling technology that enables advanced AI upscaling on older RDNA2 and RDNA3 GPUs, delivering image quality close to the official FP8 FSR4 but with higher performance demands. While this INT8 variant significantly outperforms FSR3 and XCSS, the presenter urges AMD to officially release it to extend the lifespan of older Radeon cards and better serve their customers.
The video explores AMD’s development of an INT8 version of FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR4) designed to work on older Radeon graphics cards, specifically those based on RDNA2 and RDNA3 architectures. Unlike the official FSR4 which uses the FP8 data format exclusive to RDNA4 GPUs, this INT8 variant leverages the more broadly supported INT8 format, potentially enabling FSR4’s advanced AI upscaling on GPUs as old as the RX 6000 series. This version surfaced due to AMD accidentally publishing its source code, allowing the community to compile and test it ahead of any official release. The presenter tests this work-in-progress build to assess its image quality, performance, and overall viability as an upscaling option.
In terms of image quality, the INT8 version of FSR4 is remarkably close to the FP8 model, especially at higher resolutions like 4K in quality mode. Both versions handle temporal anti-aliasing blur, discclusion, and shimmering better than FSR3, with the INT8 model providing a very good proxy for the full FSR4 experience. However, the INT8 model shows some degradation in detail reconstruction and sharpness at lower resolutions such as 1440p performance mode, where the FP8 version maintains clearer and sharper images. Despite this, the INT8 model still offers a significant improvement over FSR3, particularly in stability and reduced shimmering.
Performance-wise, the INT8 FSR4 is more demanding on RDNA2 and RDNA3 GPUs compared to the FP8 FSR4 on RDNA4 hardware. Testing across several games revealed that the INT8 version typically runs one to two quality tiers slower than FSR3 or XCSS on these older GPUs. For example, in Ratchet and Clank at 4K, the INT8 FSR4 balanced mode is roughly equivalent to FSR3 quality mode, indicating a performance hit. Despite this, users can still achieve respectable performance gains by selecting lower quality modes, making the INT8 FSR4 a viable option with some trade-offs.
When comparing image quality normalized for performance, FSR4 INT8 generally outperforms FSR3 and XCSS, offering sharper, more stable visuals with less blur and shimmering. This advantage becomes more pronounced at 1440p, where FSR4 INT8 clearly surpasses the older technologies and is the preferred choice for gamers without access to FSR4 FP8 or DLSS4. The presenter emphasizes that the INT8 version greatly enhances the visual experience on RDNA2 and RDNA3 cards and would be the go-to upscaling technology if officially released by AMD.
The video concludes that AMD should officially release the INT8 version of FSR4, as it significantly improves upon FSR3 and XCSS for older Radeon GPUs, extending their useful lifespan and supporting loyal customers. The presenter suspects AMD might withhold it to protect RDNA4 sales, but argues this would be anti-consumer and harm brand loyalty. Overall, the accidental leak offers an encouraging glimpse into FSR4’s potential on older hardware, combining improved image quality with acceptable performance trade-offs, and the community eagerly awaits an official launch.