Games from FSR 3.1 can be upgraded to FSR 4 manually — using DLL files

For a long time, the main drawback of AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology was that it could not be updated independently. Players had to wait for game developers to integrate a new version of FSR into their projects. In contrast, Nvidia users have been able to manually update DLSS to new versions for several years by replacing DLL files.

But the situation is changing. How to reported DLSS Swapper’s X (Twitter) account, the GitHub community discovered that games with support for FSR 3.1 can be updated to FSR 4 manually. To do this, simply replace the FSR 3.1 DLL files with the corresponding files from the latest AMD FSR 2.0 SDK.

How it works

The FSR SDK 2.0 package includes three internal libraries:

• amd_fidelityfx_framegeneration_dx12.dll
• amd_fidelityfx_loader_dx12.dll
• amd_fidelityfx_upscaler_dx12.dll

Users have found that renaming the loader file to amd_fidelityfx_dx12.dll and then copying all three libraries into the folder with FSR DLL files of a game running on FSR 3.1 will update the game to FSR 4. At the same time, you must delete the old FSR 3.1 files, because both versions cannot coexist.

One user demonstrated a successful launch of FSR 4 after replacing the following files in the game Horizon Zero Dawn: Remastered. In the graphics settings, the game clearly displays FSR 4.0.2 in the list of upscaling options — this is a confirmation that the trick works.

Before DLSS Override modes appeared in the Nvidia app, DLL swapping was the main way to get the latest version of DLSS. The method is not officially supported and is technically considered a modification, so there is always a risk of bugs. However, on the Nvidia side, it has been working stably since DLSS 2.0, which was released five years ago.

Game developers do not always update upscalers in their projects, and for players, this is often the only way to get better image quality and new optimizations without waiting for patches.

Limitations and nuances

On Linux, the method proved to be problematic — several users reported that FSR 4 did not activate even on Radeon RX 9000 series graphics cards.

Older Radeon models released before the RX 9000 don’t get the full FSR 4 upgrade either. In such cases, games will run FSR 3.1.5 even if the DLL files have been replaced.

Despite this, most attempts on Windows have been successful, with only a few users complaining of crashes or crashes after the manual update.

So, now Radeon card owners have the opportunity that Nvidia users have had for years — to update the game’s upscaler on their own. DLL swapping is likely to become the main method of transition from FSR 3.1 to FSR 4 until AMD creates a full-fledged analog of DLSS Override.

The company has already promised that future versions of Adrenalin Software will be able to add FSR 4 support to specific games regardless of the actions of developers. However, it is still unknown when and how often such updates will be released.

Source: tomshardware