AMD promises the next level of upscaling with FSR 4.1. In addition to improved ray tracing, the ultra-performance mode in particular should benefit. Anyone playing Crimson Desert should already be able to see the upgrade now.
A few leaks over the past few weeks had hinted at it, but now it’s official: AMD has released the next upscaling generation with FSR 4.1 – as usual, the new version is reserved exclusively for the RDNA 4 series (RX 9000).
The release took place as part of the newAdrenalin driver in version 26.3.1, which also introduces “Game Ready” support forCrimson Desertin addition to the FSR update.
Ray regeneration and ultra-performance preset in focus
As Jack Huynh explains in his role as head of AMD’s “Computing and Graphics Business” department on X, the update to FSR 4.1 focuses on three key points:
Crimson Desert is Live Today!
Continuing our journey on @AMD FSR Redstone and announcing our new GPU driver release is ready:
✨Ray Regeneration 1. 1 – Enhanced reflections & global illumination, fully supported in Crimson Desert
FSR Upscaling 4.1 – Sharper image quality… pic.twitter.com/rvSu4kA1aL
– Jack Huynh (@jackhuynh) March 19, 2026
- Ray Regeneration 1.1 – the AI solution for reducing path tracing noise – is designed to improve light reflections as well as general global illumination.
- In addition, Huynh speaks of “sharper image quality for ML-based upscaling”, which should result in finer details and smoother camera movement.
- Finally, the “Ultra Performance” mode, which is heavily geared towards performance, should be able to deliver even better performance.
The first tests carried out using a leaked DLL file fromTechspotconfirm that the update to FSR 4.1 has made significant progress, at least in the latter point.
Nvidia, however, is not yet on an equal footing: “FSR 4.1 is a clear step towards improved details and clarity” – but the AMD solution is still lagging behind DLSS.
With the release of FSR 4.1, AMD is getting ahead of its biggest competitor, at least in the context of a major update:Nvidia will officially release DLSS 4.5 “only” on March 31, 2026.
Sony also gets involved
AMD is not the only company looking forward to the FSR 4.1 update: PS5 chief architect Mark Cerny is also joining in the joy, which is not surprising given the long-term partnership as part of “Project Amethyst”.
In his X post, Cerny also leaves a small hint as to how FSR 4.1 relates to Sony’s own PSSR solution (“PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution”):
FSR upscaling 4.1 is based “on the same neural network that the PSSR upgrade for the PS5 Pro uses”.
This PSSR upgrade should also be an indication of how well the improvements in FSR 4.1 perform on the PC: In games such as Resident Evil Requiem, which was the first to benefit from the Sony update, the polished upscaling cut a fine figure.
