AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling is now live for Radeon RX 9000-series GPUs through the Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1 driver, released March 19, 2026, bringing the company’s upscaling tech into direct competition with console-grade ray tracing solutions. The update pairs improved ML-based upscaling with Ray Regeneration 1.1, AMD’s ray-traced denoiser, marking the first time the two technologies ship together on consumer graphics cards.
Key Takeaways
- AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling delivers sharper images and smoother camera motion compared to FSR 4.0.
- Ray Regeneration 1.1 enhances reflections and global illumination for ray-traced games.
- Crimson Desert launched March 19, 2026, with full support for both FSR 4.1 and Ray Regeneration 1.1.
- AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling achieves technical parity with Sony’s PSSR 2 on PS5 Pro for image quality and ray tracing.
- The Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1 driver fixes Cyberpunk 2077 Path Tracing crashes and input loss issues.
AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling sharpens detail in motion
The core improvement in AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling centers on machine-learning-based reconstruction that preserves fine details while maintaining frame consistency. AMD’s Jack Huynh stated the update delivers “sharper image quality for ML-based upscaling, delivering finer details and smoother camera motion across all ML-powered AMD FSR games”. Compared to FSR 4.0, the new version improves object quality during camera pans and fast motion—a historically weak point for upscaling algorithms. This matters because games with dynamic lighting and rapid scene changes often expose upscaling artifacts that break immersion.
The AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling implementation works independently of frame generation, meaning RX 9000 owners can enable upscaling alone for latency-sensitive competitive games or pair it with frame generation for maximum frame rates in single-player titles. This flexibility distinguishes AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling from some competitor approaches that lock upscaling and frame gen together.
Ray Regeneration 1.1 refines ray-traced reflections
Ray Regeneration 1.1 is AMD’s ML denoiser for ray-traced workloads, reconstructing reflections and global illumination from sparse ray samples. The 1.1 version enhances reconstruction consistency, reducing the ghosting and blur artifacts that plagued earlier implementations. Crimson Desert’s day-one support with AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling and Ray Regeneration 1.1 includes specific fixes for grass texture ghosting, a common visual issue in open-world titles.
Performance scales predictably across resolutions. On RDNA 4 hardware, Ray Regeneration 1.1 processes four ray signals at 2560×1440 in 7.9 milliseconds, or 4.9 milliseconds with a single fused signal. This overhead is small enough that ray tracing becomes viable on RX 9000 cards without severe frame rate penalties—a competitive advantage over older AMD GPU architectures that required FSR 2 on RX 590+ or FSR 1 on RX 400+ cards.
AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling closes the console gap
AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling now achieves technical parity with Sony’s PSSR 2 on PS5 Pro for both ray tracing accuracy and ML upscaling sharpness. This is significant because PS5 Pro’s PSSR 2 set a new baseline for console-quality image reconstruction, and AMD matching that standard on consumer GPUs means RX 9000 owners get equivalent visual fidelity without buying new hardware. NVIDIA’s DLSS remains the incumbent standard for ray-traced gaming on GeForce cards, but AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling now offers a credible alternative for RX 9070 XT and RX 9060 XT owners.
The Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1 driver also addresses critical stability issues. It fixes crashes and timeouts in Cyberpunk 2077 when Path Tracing is enabled, resolves random loss of mouse and keyboard input across games, and enables Noise Suppression on RX 6000+ GPUs. These fixes matter because Path Tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most demanding ray-traced workloads available, and input loss bugs destroy playability regardless of frame rate.
Known issues and game support
Not every game works flawlessly. Battlefield 6 exhibits texture flickering when AMD Record and Stream is active, and FSR Upscaling and Frame Generation may show as inactive in AMD Software despite being enabled. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach supports AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling and Ray Regeneration 1.1, but broader adoption across the AAA catalog will take time. Developers must integrate the latest FSR SDK to unlock these features, and not all studios prioritize AMD support equally.
Should you update to Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1?
If you own an RX 9000-series GPU and play Crimson Desert or Death Stranding 2, the Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1 driver is essential—it’s the only way to access AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling and Ray Regeneration 1.1. If you play Cyberpunk 2077 with Path Tracing enabled, the stability fixes alone justify updating. For owners of older Radeon cards (RX 7000 or RX 6000 series), this driver brings general improvements and bug fixes, but AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling remains exclusive to RDNA 4 hardware.
Does AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling work with older Radeon cards?
No. AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling requires RDNA 4 architecture (RX 9000 series) for the ML-based improvements and Ray Regeneration 1.1 support. Older cards like the RX 7900 XTX can use FSR 4.0 (the previous version) and Frame Generation, but not the new 4.1 upscaling features. This is a hardware limitation tied to the tensor capabilities of RDNA 4.
What’s the difference between FSR 4.1 and DLSS 4?
NVIDIA DLSS 4 and AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling both use machine learning to reconstruct high-resolution images from lower-resolution input, but they operate on different hardware. DLSS 4 requires NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series or RTX 40-series GPUs with dedicated tensor cores, while AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling targets RX 9000 cards. Both claim to match console-quality results—AMD matching PS5 Pro’s PSSR 2, NVIDIA claiming superiority over DLSS 3—but independent benchmarking across identical game titles remains limited.
AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling represents a genuine leap forward for Radeon owners who felt left behind during the DLSS 3 era. The combination of sharper upscaling and improved ray tracing through Ray Regeneration 1.1 closes a gap that existed for years. Crimson Desert’s launch with full support proves AMD is serious about developer adoption, and the stability fixes in Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1 show attention to real-world gaming pain points. For RX 9000 owners, this driver is not optional—it’s the unlock key for the hardware’s intended performance tier.
Edited by the All Things Geek team.
Source: Tom's Hardware
