AMD’s new driver adds AFMF 2.1 support for improved frame generation – and it could be a game-changer for handheld gaming PCs | usagoldmines.com

• AMD has finally introduced AFMF 2.1 in its new FSR 4 driver update
• Its compatible with RDNA 4, 3, and 2 GPUs, including Ryzen AI 300 series processors
• Performance and image stability in games on the Asus ROG Ally are improved using AFMF 2.1

AMD’s RDNA 4 GPUs are finally here, along with a new driver that adds FSR 4 support, but that’s not all – handheld gaming PCs and RDNA 3 and 2 GPU users will have a new and improved trick up their sleeve to improve performance in games.

As detailed in AMD’s Adrenalin Edition release notes, AFMF 2.1 is now available in driver 25.3.1 for Radeon RX 6000, 7000, and 9070 series GPUs including Team Red’s Ryzen AI 300 series processors. This is a driver-based frame generation feature (similar to Nvidia’s new Smooth Motion) that allows gamers to force frame-gen into games that don’t have official implementation from developers.

AFMF 2.1 is built to improve upon frame generation image quality along with reducing ghosting and better temporal tracking – using AFMF 1 and 2 on handheld devices like the Asus ROG Ally wasn’t an easygoing experience since ghosting, stutters, and poor image quality were common complaints from people who used it.

Based on some of my early impressions, AFMF 2.1 is a good step up from its predecessor, providing a cleaner image in motion and reducing ghosting to a significant degree – this was evident in my testing of Sifu and Resident Evil 4 (pictured below), two games that have previously struggled when using AFMF with ghosting and constant frame time stutters.

Fortunately, those issues have been minimized as the non-stop action in Capcom’s title isn’t interrupted by regular frame time spikes (which used to occur even when idle in-game) allowing for a much smoother handheld experience – and it’s a great sign for other games that have previously struggled with frame generation software on handheld gaming PCs.

Now, we just need FSR 4 to come to RDNA 3…

I know FSR 4 is currently exclusive to Team Red’s new Radeon RX 9070 series, but if the new upscaling technology can find its way onto RDNA 3 hardware, handheld gamers are in for a treat.

We’ve seen how close FSR 4 is to Nvidia’s DLSS 4 and its new transformer model – while it doesn’t defeat it nor match it, it’s managed to topple its fierce rivals’ previous CNN model, with greater image stability (especially in motion). AFMF 2.1 has impressed me and given me another reason to keep my ROG Ally (at least for now), and any addition of FSR 4 will likely be a showstopper.

Its performance mode is a prime example of the significant enhancements, which reminded me of how great DLSS 4’s performance mode looks – imagining how this would perform on a handheld gaming PC is the stuff of dreams for me.

The only strong competition AMD has for producing chips for handhelds is Intel – while the MSI Claw 8 AI +’s Ultra Core 7 258V processor is more powerful than the Z1 Extreme, the current version of XeSS (Intel’s upscaling tech) likely can’t match up to FSR 4. In my opinion, Team Red’s new upscaling method is the final piece of the puzzle needed to make handhelds like the ROG Ally complete – let’s just hope it can be done…

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