Tag Archives: FidelityFX

Computers, Gaming, News

Microsoft Unveils DirectSR: One SR To Rule Integrate Them All

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Gamers rejoice! Microsoft has taken a big step towards simplifying and improving the way PC games leverage upscaling technologies with the introduction of DirectSR. But what exactly is DirectSR, and how will it impact your gaming experience? Let’s delve into the details.

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Photo by FOX on Pexels

What is Super Resolution (SR)?

Before diving into DirectSR, it’s important to understand Super Resolution (SR). SR is a collection of image processing techniques used in games to render them at a lower resolution and then intelligently upscale them to a higher resolution for display. This allows for smoother performance, especially on less powerful hardware, without sacrificing too much visual quality.

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Photo by Thomas Foster on Unsplash

There are currently several popular SR technologies available, including AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), and Intel Xe Super Sampling (XESS). Each technology has its own strengths and weaknesses, but they all share the common goal of delivering high-quality visuals with improved performance.

The current landscape of PC gaming presents a challenge for developers. In order to support multiple SR technologies from different vendors, they often need to integrate separate APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) into their games. This can be a time-consuming and complex process, potentially hindering the adoption of SR features across a wider range of titles.

Microsoft’s DirectSR: A Unified Solution

DirectSR aims to bridge this gap by offering a single API that works with various SR technologies. Developed by Microsoft in collaboration with AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA, DirectSR essentially acts as a translator, allowing developers to integrate any supported SR technology with minimal effort. This simplifies the development process and reduces the burden on studios, potentially leading to more widespread adoption of SR features in PC games.

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Photo by Alex Haney on Unsplash

Benefits for Gamers

For gamers, DirectSR offers several potential benefits. Here are a few key advantages:

  • Improved Performance: By enabling developers to easily implement SR technologies, DirectSR has the potential to boost performance in games, allowing you to enjoy smoother gameplay at higher resolutions.
  • Wider Choice of SR Options: With DirectSR, developers can offer players a choice between different SR solutions within the game. This empowers you to select the technology that best suits your hardware and preferences.
  • Simplified User Experience: DirectSR aims to eliminate the need for developers to create separate user interfaces for each SR technology. This can lead to a more streamlined and user-friendly experience for gamers within the game’s settings.

Current Status and Availability

DirectSR is still in its early stages, currently available as a developer preview through the Microsoft DirectX Agility SDK. This means it’s not yet implemented in any commercially available games. However, the positive outlook suggests that future PC games could leverage DirectSR to provide a wider range of SR options and a smoother overall gaming experience.

The arrival of DirectSR marks a significant step towards simplifying and standardizing how PC games utilize Super Resolution technologies. While it’s still early days, DirectSR has the potential to benefit both developers and gamers by streamlining the development process and offering a broader range of performance-enhancing options. As DirectSR matures and is integrated into more games, PC gamers can look forward to a future of smoother frame rates and stunning visuals, all without sacrificing precious hardware resources.

Computers, Gaming, News

AMD’s Radeon RX 7600 is Here! 1080p Gamers, Rejoice!

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A few days ago, NVIDIA released their GeForce RTX 4060 and RTX 4060 Ti to cater to gamers who are playing games on Full HD 1080p resolution. At US$ 299 (MYR 1,381*), they are still rather expensive to upgrade to. There are of course the benefits that come with an NVIDIA GPU like Ray Tracing engine, DLSS, and a myriad of support from NVIDIA. But what if US$ 299 is still a little rich for you? What if you want to spend a little bit less on your GPUs to get more bang out of the buck for your Full HD gaming rig? We offer you the AMD Radeon RX 7600.

Yes, this is the official replacement for the AMD Radeon RX 6600. Being a Radeon RX 7000 class GPU, the RX 7600 comes with RDNA 3 architecture as standard. That not only means improved GPU performance, but also improved ray tracing and upscaling (FidelityFX Super Resolution) engines. There is also an AI core in there somewhere that is not being utilized as of now, but that may come handy later. The new GPU also comes with AMD’s clever second-generation Infinity Cache technology that should prove useful in gaming and content creation situations.

It is designed to play games at Full HD, and better at that than the older GPU (obviously). At that, AMD claims a 29% performance bump over the Radeon RX 6600 on average. They also claim that the RX 7600 performs about 34% better than the older NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB on average. With the new RDNA 3 architecture, they also claim that the GPU can push past 100fps in esports titles on Full HD resolution. You also have the advantage of AV1 support for better streaming experiences and DisplayPort 2.1 support for higher resolution displays. Then again, you might want to stick with Full HD resolution for this one.

At the heart of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 are 32 compute units with RDNA 3 technology. That is 4 compute units more than the older RX 6600 with RDNA 2. It still only comes with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which they claim is enough for high-fidelity Full HD gaming and even upscaling to 1440p. The compute units are also clocked higher at 2.25GHz compared to the 2.04GHz from before. While that guarantees the bump in performance, it also means that the GPU draws more power than before at 165W TGP.

Price and Availability

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is said to be available from AMD and their board partners today onward. AMD suggests a retail price of US$ 269 (MYR 1,243*) onward, but the prices will vary across manufacturers. Of course, you can expect manufacturers like ASUS and ASRock to come up with their “overclocked” versions of the GPU soon after. There are no indications on a 16GB variant anytime soon too, so if you are holding out for a 16GB AMD entry-level GPU, you might want to hold out a little bit longer for either their RX 7700 or RX 7800 to come out. More on AMD’s Radeon RX 7600 GPU can be found on their website.

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.62 as of 25/05/2023 on xe.com

Computers, Gaming, News

AMD’s rDNA 3 unleashed with Radeon RX 7900 series

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UPDATE 16th November 2022: Both cards are now available at AMD.com and in retail, with the Radeon RX 7900 XTX priced at USD 999 (approx. RM 4420) and Radeon RX 7900 XT at USD 899 (RM 3980).

AMD has released their first generation of rDNA 3 architecture cards, the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT to be available from mid-December 2022.

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The RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT sports the new rDNA 3 architecture.

Chiplet design in rDNA 3 brings the most efficient performance possible

Announced in November, the RX 7900 series cards are the first chiplet design graphics cards available on the market. The chiplet design uses multiple dies interconnected using similar technology to the Ryzen CPU’s, resulting in improved performance with up to 54% better power efficiency as claimed. The most anticipated feature is of course performance that the rDNA 3 architecture brings. AMD has claimed that it delivers up to 54% more performance per watt than the rDNA 2 cards, a significant improvement.

Enhanced 4K gaming experience with Display Port 2.1

Being top tier graphics cards, they are geared towards 4K gaming and fans can expect significant improvements. For a direct comparison, the RX 7900 XT has up to 1.7X higher 4K performance than the previous generation Radeon RX 6950 XT, highlighting the generational uplift of rDNA 3. Being one of the first cards to support DisplayPort 2.1 with UHBR 13.5, expect high refresh rates on 4K gaming (up to 480Hz) and 8K gaming (up to 165Hz).

Enhancements and availability of RX 7900 series

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FSR 3 and AMD Advantage for Desktop promises better gaming performance in 2023

Alongside the new cards, AMD has also announced the latest iteration of temporal upscaling technology, FidelityFX Super Resolution. AMD plans for the new technology to be available in 2023 alongside the new AMD Fluid Motion Frames technology. Collectively, these enhancements are expected to build on the current FSR 2.2, though no exact details on how it works have been revealed just yet. AMD also announced the AMD Advantage for Desktop PCs to the benefit of both gamers and streamers. The feature further enhances gaming and streaming performance by combining the Ryzen 7950x processors and RX 7900 XTX graphics cards.

The Radeon RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT are available now at USD 999 and USD 899 respectively from AMD.com and in retail.

Computers, Gaming, News

Raise the Game with AMD graphics card and game bundle offer

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AMD offers to improve your gaming experience by offering free games bundled with select graphics cards.

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Get Dead Island 2 and Callisto Protocol with AMD graphics and raise your game!

From now until 4th February 2023, every purchase of RX6000 series cards at participating retailers will come with up to two games for free. All purchases of the selected cards will come with the zombie-slaying sequel Dead Island 2. Purchases of the RX6700 and higher will also get the highly anticipated sci-fi survival horror, The Callisto Protocol. Additionally, The Callisto Protocol comes with AMD Radeon inspired weapon skins, a digital skin and special character.

A full list of eligible graphics cards can be found on the AMD Raise the Game bundle offer page. The free games will be given as game codes that can be redeemed online at www.amdrewards.com/terms.

More FPS with FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.2

Alongside the free games giveaway, AMD has also announced FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2.2. AMD’s temporal upscaling answer to nVidia’s DLSS technology, FSR 2.2 promises to bring improved framerates and enhanced visuals.

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Up to 218 games already supported by AMD’s FidelityFX Super resolution upscaling tech.

FSR 2.0 was announced earlier in May 2022, with up to 218 games combined supported by the technology and its previous 1.0 iteration. FSR 2.2 support will begin its rounds of the gaming sphere starting with its first game, Forza Horizon 5. AMD has also announced that FSR 2.2 will be free to download for game developers on GPUOpen.com soon though no specific date was mentioned. This should help speed up FSR 2.2 support for more games in the near future. Gamers can maximize their FSR and Radeon graphics card experience with the AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™. This enables enhancements such as 4K gaming with DirectX 12 Ultimate and DirectX Raytracing (DXR).

For more information on AMD’s Raise Your Game Bundle and FidelityFX Super Resolution technology, visit AMD’s official website.

Editorial, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Special with Paige Shi of AMD

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AMD has been on a roll with a multitude of releases and powerful innovations that are changing the landscape of the semiconductor industry. AMD is a company that has made its bets 5 years ago in high-performance computing and is now starting to see them come to fruition. With the announcement of their RDNA 2 platform and Zen architecture, they are delivering more performance to consumers for less power. These innovations continue to create waves in the industry with the company seeing its technologies adopted in gaming consoles to cars. 

AMD’s recent announcements have proven that the company is making strides; not only in the consumer and gaming space but also in high-performance computing. The company has even announced their take on graphic supersampling with the FidelityFX Super Resolution. So, what’s next for AMD? 

We’re sitting down with Paige Shi, Consumer Lead for Asia Pacific over at AMD to find out what’s happening at AMD and how the company is adapting to the new normal, how it has affected consumer behaviour and also what we can expect from the company in the future!