Valve confirms FSR 4 for Steam Machine as AMD releases FSR 4.1 on RDNA 3 GPUs

Valve confirmed that its Steam Machine console will support AMD's FSR 4 upscaling technology, as the company prepares to ship the device on June 29. The confirmation came from SteamOS developer Pierre-Loup Griffais in an interview with Digital Foundry, who said the feature could roll out on the same schedule as the Windows release.

The Steam Machine starts at $1,049 for the 512GB model and $1,349 for the 2TB version. Valve is using a randomized purchase queue to manage initial demand, calling the system less frustrating and more fair.

FSR 4.1 arrives on RDNA 3 hardware

AMD released the Adrenalin 26.6.2 WHQL driver on June 22, adding FSR 4.1 support to all Radeon RX 7000 series GPUs. The update brings machine learning upscaling to more than 300 games, improving image fidelity and motion stability compared to FSR 3.

• FSR 4.1.1 INT8 DLL files appeared in a SteamDB entry on June 22, suggesting AMD and Valve are collaborating on Proton support.
• YouTuber Brad Lynch posted screenshots showing FSR 4.1 testing in the Proton Experimental build for SteamOS.
• Valve deleted the manifest shortly after it appeared, but a Redditor who downloaded the DLL reported it works on RDNA 3.5 hardware and can be used with OptiScaler to upgrade games from FSR 3.
• AMD's Jack Huynh said the company is developing lightweight machine learning models to bring FSR 4.1 to RDNA 3 APUs.

What comes next for SteamOS and older GPUs

AMD plans to extend FSR 4.1 support to RDNA 2 GPUs next year, as it continues optimizing AI models for hardware without dedicated AI accelerators. The RDNA 2-based Radeon RX 6900 XT still exhibits shimmering and ghosting issues with the current DLL, according to the Redditor's tests.

Valve has not announced a specific timeline for FSR 4.1 in SteamOS, but the Proton testing indicates the company is moving quickly. The Steam Machine's launch marks the first dedicated console running SteamOS, and the inclusion of FSR 4 could help it compete with traditional consoles on image quality and performance. The Verge noted that the Steam Machine's price reflects a broader trend of rising costs in gaming hardware, driven partly by the global RAM shortage.