HANDHELD NEWS – The Steam Deck community has once again pushed the boundaries: they’ve managed to get AMD FSR 4 running on the handheld, even though it isn’t officially supported. A mod makes it possible to activate FSR 4 on the Deck, delivering a clear jump in visual quality over FSR 3.1. While the graphics look sharper and more stable, the price comes in the form of reduced performance.

It’s been more than three years since Valve released the Steam Deck. Although it has sold millions of units, several AAA titles still push it to its limits, and it’s expected to struggle further with upcoming releases. Fortunately, the Deck remains a PC at its core, meaning users can customize it freely, add mods, and experiment with upscaling technologies like AMD FSR or Lossless Scaling.

FSR 4 Debuts on Steam Deck Thanks to the Community

As a reminder, AMD FSR 4 was originally reserved for RDNA 4 GPUs, leaving millions of players with older hardware, including RDNA 2-based Steam Deck owners, out in the cold. This was a significant limitation, but not an insurmountable one for a community that has spent weeks experimenting to bring FSR 4 to the Deck and similar devices. The results are improved sharpness, fewer artifacts, and a more stable image.

That’s right: FSR 4 has unofficially “arrived” on the Steam Deck. According to Windows Central, it all started when FSR 4 files appeared on GitHub. From there, modders created DLL files and, with tools such as OptiScaler, replaced FSR 3.1 with FSR 4 in games where the earlier version was already present. This workaround made FSR 4 function on RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 GPUs, some NVIDIA RTX 30 cards, and of course, the Steam Deck.

The improvement is instantly visible. Images are sharper, small details flicker less, and the overall picture looks more stable. Tests in Cyberpunk 2077 confirm the leap over FSR 3.1, as reported by Windows Central. On YouTube, the Deck Wizard channel showed FSR 4 working in Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Stellar Blade (see video above). The truth is that the image quality is clearly superior in FSR 4 compared to FSR 3.1, even if it’s not officially supported—but there’s a price to pay.

Since the Steam Deck APU is not officially supported by FSR 4, performance can drop by around 10 FPS, and in some cases, by as much as 25%. For this reason, it’s recommended to lock gameplay at 30 FPS for a smoother experience (via Club386). AMD has not yet announced official FSR 4 support for older generations, though the upcoming FSR Redstone update could expand compatibility. Until then, anyone who wants to try this workaround should remember it’s unofficial, best applied to games that already support FSR 3.1, and should expect a natural drop in performance.

Source: 3djuegos