AMD has made significant improvements to frame pacing in their FSR frame generation technology with the latest driver update, particularly benefiting newer games using FSR4 on RDNA4 GPUs, resulting in smoother and more consistent gameplay. However, older titles and RDNA3 users continue to experience frame pacing issues, leaving a mixed experience that AMD has yet to fully resolve.
The video discusses whether AMD has finally fixed the frame pacing issues in their FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) frame generation technology, a problem persisting since FSR3’s release in 2023. Broken frame pacing causes uneven frame delivery, resulting in stutters and jitters that undermine the smoothness frame generation aims to provide. While Nvidia’s DLSS frame generation has near-perfect pacing without special configurations, AMD’s solution has historically been inconsistent and problematic. After years of denial and user frustration, AMD recently acknowledged the frame pacing issue and released a driver update aimed at fixing it, particularly for RDNA4 GPUs.
Testing with slow-motion camera footage revealed that the latest AMD 26.10.1 driver significantly improves frame pacing in several games that have native FSR4 frame generation integration. Titles like Crimson Desert, Resident Evil Requiem, The Witcher 3 Remastered, and Alan Wake 2 now exhibit smooth and consistent frame delivery, matching monitor refresh rates and producing a noticeably better gameplay experience. These improvements are applied automatically at the driver level, without requiring manual toggles, marking a positive step forward for RDNA4 users.
However, the fix is not universal. Older games using FSR 3.1.5 or earlier versions of frame generation still suffer from poor frame pacing on RDNA4, with issues such as double frame outputs and erratic frame times persisting. Some games like God of War Ragnarok and Hogwarts Legacy show little to no improvement despite the driver update. Interestingly, some titles allow manual DLL swaps to upgrade to FSR4 frame generation, which can fix pacing issues, but this is not feasible for all older games due to their integration methods.
The situation on RDNA3 GPUs is more complex. While AMD has improved frame pacing somewhat on RDNA3 compared to the original FSR3 launch, the latest driver does not bring the same level of improvement as on RDNA4. Surprisingly, RDNA3 sometimes delivers better frame pacing than RDNA4 in older titles using legacy FSR versions, due to a regression in RDNA4 that the recent driver only partially addresses. This creates a confusing landscape where newer architectures do not always perform better in frame pacing depending on the game and FSR version used.
In conclusion, AMD has made meaningful progress in fixing frame pacing issues with FSR frame generation, but only for newer games with native FSR4 integration on RDNA4 GPUs. Older titles and RDNA3 users still face challenges, and there is currently no reliable software tool to accurately measure frame pacing performance with frame generation enabled. While the future looks better for new games, AMD’s partial fix leaves a mixed experience for gamers using older titles or different hardware architectures. The video ends on a hopeful note that AMD might address these remaining issues in the future.