AMD's FSR Redstone Arrives for Radeon RX 9000, Enhancing Gaming with Frame Generation and Ray Tracing

AMD Unveils FSR Redstone: A New Era of Frame Generation, Ray Regeneration, and Upscaling for Radeon RX 9000 Series

AMD has officially launched FSR Redstone, a significant technological leap exclusively for its RDNA 4 graphics cards, promising a revolution in gaming performance and visual fidelity. While the Radeon RX 9000 series has already seen glimpses of this new technology, notably with the inclusion of ML Ray Regeneration in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the full suite of Redstone's capabilities is being rolled out strategically. Interestingly, not all four core components of Redstone are available at launch, with at least one feature slated for a 2026 release. The Ray Regeneration feature, in particular, remains a niche offering, currently limited to that single Call of Duty title.

AMD Rebrands and Expands FSR's Horizon

In a strategic rebranding, AMD is simplifying its nomenclature to just "FSR," signaling a departure from the exclusive focus on upscaling and frame generation. The new FSR Redstone stack aims to deliver a substantial performance uplift, with AMD touting an average improvement of up to 3.3 times compared to rendering games at native 4K resolution. This move clearly mirrors NVIDIA's approach with DLSS, integrating a broader range of technologies under a single, recognizable umbrella. It's important to note that the FSR upscaling technology itself hasn't been reinvented; it's essentially the previously announced FSR 4 that is now part of this broader Redstone package. AMD reiterates that this powerful suite is exclusive to the Radeon RX 9000 series and requires games to already support FSR 3.1 for optimal integration.

What's Available Now and What's on the Horizon

Following the Redstone release, gamers can anticipate the following components:

• FSR Upscaling: Expected to be supported in over 200 games by the end of the year.
• FSR Frame Generation: Aimed at more than 30 titles before the year concludes.
• FSR Ray Regeneration: Currently a limited feature, exclusive to Black Ops 7, with wider availability promised in the future.
• FSR Radiance Caching: This advanced feature is scheduled for a 2026 launch.

FSR Frame Generation, previously known by some as ML Frame Generation, is a core part of Redstone. AMD asserts it's engineered to provide exceptionally smooth and high frame rates. This technology leverages a sophisticated neural network, trained on demanding gaming scenarios, with a strong emphasis on minimizing visual artifacts and enhancing shadow rendering. Think of it like an incredibly skilled artist intelligently painting in extra frames between your game's original ones, making everything flow beautifully without noticeable glitches.

Revolutionizing Ray Tracing with Radiance Caching and Ray Regeneration

FSR Radiance Caching is set to redefine ray tracing performance by significantly reducing the computational cost associated with global illumination. This innovative method involves the GPU calculating complex indirect lighting at key points within a scene. These results are then cached and interpolated for neighboring pixels, minimizing the need to trace countless rays and reflections. The result? More fluid rendering of indirect lighting, subtle color bleeding, and softer reflections, especially in scenes where lighting conditions remain relatively stable. It’s akin to having a smart system that remembers how light bounces off surfaces in certain areas, so it doesn't have to recalculate it every single millisecond.

FSR Ray Regeneration, which bears a strong resemblance to NVIDIA's DLSS Ray Reconstruction, aims to deliver more realistic lighting and specular highlights. Its widespread adoption in games hinges on developer implementation, meaning we'll see it appear as studios integrate the technology. The recent release of the FSR Redstone SDK, with its straightforward DLL integration, signals that broader game support should arrive sooner rather than later. However, the overall rollout of the Redstone stack is more staggered than initially anticipated, with some exciting features still on the horizon.