Valve’s Steam Machine just got a huge performance boost thanks to AMD’s FSR 4
Better image quality for all
💪 Valve’s Steam Machine is gaining a performance boost through AMD’s FSR 4 upscaling technology
🥳 FSR 4 and 4.1 offers significant improvements in image quality over previous versions by reducing artifacts like ghosting and shimmering
👀 Valve has enabled compatibility for the Steam Machine’s RDNA 3 GPU, allowing users to upgrade FSR 3-supported games to FSR 4 via Steam and Proton Experimental
📈 This integration addresses concerns regarding graphics performance, helping the Steam Machine compete more effectively in graphically intensive gaming
The Steam Machine’s specs have been a point of contention since they were revealed, with Valve claiming its diminutive cube will play most games at 4K, 60fps using FSR (which is AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution).
However, not all versions of FSR are created equally. Comparing FSR 1 to FSR 3 is a night and day difference, with substantial improvements to image quality and performance. The recent upgrade to FSR 4 and FSR 4.1 eclipses FSR 3 even further, resolving more detail when upscaling from lower resolutions, while reducing shimmering, ghosting, and other noticeable artefacts.
Recently, AMD announced that FSR 4.1 would be compatible with older GPUs, rather than just those that were built with the RDNA 4 architecture. Many wondered if the Steam Machine, which has an RDNA 3 GPU, would subsequently benefit, and it turns out that should be the case.
According to insider Brad Lynch on X, Valve has added the version of AMD’s FSR 4 to Steam and its upcoming Proton Experimental branch that should allow Steam Machine and SteamOS users the option to “upgrade FSR 3 supported games to FSR 4.
That’s a huge win for prospective Steam Machine buyers that may have been concerned with FSR 3 handling the heavy lifting in more graphically intensive games. Like the recent iterations of Nvidia’s DLSS, FSR 4 is a big step up from what’s come before. So much so that Sony updated its PSSR model (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) on the PS5 Pro with a newer version that was co-developed with AMD, which is essentially FSR 4 in all but name.
We already know that the Steam Machine has a significant advantage over the PS5 in CPU performance thanks to a recent Geekbench leak. However, the news that the GPU will take advantage of FSR 4 and FSR 4.1 also bodes well for the Steam Machine.
Valve recently released SteamOS 3.8 in preparation for its new hardware, which is likely to be revealed officially this week.
Up next: Steam Machine pre‑order, price, and release date leak points to June 23 reveal
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. He also runs a retro gaming YouTube channel called Game on, boy! Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.