Summary
- FSR on the ROG Ally X boosts frame rate by enhancing image quality with the help of AI.
- It can help the handheld hit 60-70fps when set to high graphics settings with some games.
- Access system-level RSR in Settings under GPU settings in Amory Crate SE app.
Before you scroll down to the comments to let me know how silly it is that I haven’t tried FSR on the ROG Ally X until now, let me explain. I’ve been a console gamer for the majority of my life, primarily because I appreciate the plug-and-play nature of dedicated gaming boxes.
With the rise of Switch-inspired handhelds like the Steam Deck OLED and ROG Ally X, I’ve become more immersed in the technical world of PC gaming. This includes things like fan-made patches that improve the performance of new releases, lowering the resolution of titles to eke out better frame rates, VRAM allocation, tweaking graphics settings, and more recently, AMD’s AI-powered AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology.
Asus ROG Ally X
- Dimensions
- 11.02 x 4.37 x 0.97-inches (28.0 x 11.1 x 2.47 x 3.69cm)
- Number of Games Included
- Steam, Xbox Game Pass, Epic Games Store, and more
- Playing Time
- 3-4 hours
- Brand
- Asus
- Weight
- 1.49lbs (678g)
- Chipset
- AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme Processor
The Steam Deck and ROG Ally X support Radeon Super Resolution RSR, a system-level version of FSR that works with games that don’t officially support AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (the Steam Deck also supports FSR). However, this feature requires you to manually lower the resolution in each game for FSR to be useful after you turn it on. If a game has the option to enable FSR within its visual settings, use that method instead.
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FSR is the ROG Ally X’s secret sauce
Is the game you’re playing struggling to hit 60fps? FidelityFX Super Resolution is the answer
I’ve often seen FSR when messing around with the visual settings of games, but it wasn’t until I learned that the Switch 2 supports Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS)that AI upscaling in games really hit my radar. FSR is the secret ingredient that kicks the ROG Ally X’s performance over the top, allowing the handheld to hit frame rates that would otherwise be impossible.
The first version of FSR utilizes AI to increase the resolution of games running at a lower resolution, boosting performance while maintaining image quality. This can be run at a system level, too. Next, there’s FSR 2, which adds “temporal information” to make that image quality even higher. And finally, there’s FSR 3 frame generation, which results in even smoother frame rates at higher graphics settings.
AMD has also released
FSR 3.1
, an improved version of FSR 3. FSR 4 is also in the works.
The key thing to note is that while most modern titles support FSR, not every game features the latest version of AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution. For example, Death Stranding Director’s Cut supports FSR 2 and hasn’t yet been updated to support FSR 3 (it’s unclear if it ever will be).
Still, even with the slightly older version of the tech, enabling FSR and setting it to Balanced allows me to sometimes hit 60-70fps with Death Stranding in handheld and docked mode with all graphics settings set to high and the resolution at 1920 x 1080 pixels. In addition, I’ve found that the AI-powered feature significantly cleans up the aliasing that often plagues games on Asus’ handheld.
FSR gives the pint-sized ROG Ally X a much-needed performance boost that improves the frame rate.
I’ve also taken advantage of FSR 3 with Call of Duty Black Ops 6’s multiplayer, allowing me to get a consistent 60fps with the visuals set on Medium (you can kick the frame rate up to 90fps if you lower the visual settings notably). Without FSR 3 enabled, the ROG Ally X struggles to run Black Ops 6 unless the graphics settings are significantly lower. Especially when it comes to newer titles, FSR gives the pint-sized ROG Ally X a much-needed performance boost that improves the frame rate and, in some cases, cleans up the visuals. For a full list of games that support FSR 3, follow this link.
Since the ROG Ally X and the two displays I use, the Hisense U88H, and the LG Ultragear 27GP950-B, support a 120Hz refresh rate, I don’t really need to worry about setting a frame limiter unless I find that the frame rate is jumping substantially. That said, I still take advantage of VSync to prevent the annoying screen tearing that FSR can sometimes amplify.
AMD also offers AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) for games that don’t support FSR 3, but in my experience, it doesn’t seem to work that well and can sometimes result in less-than-stellar, choppy visuals. This issue is even more common with games that have built-in frame caps and those that require VSync to be turned off.
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FSR feels like magic
Games have never played smoother on my ROG Ally X
FSR really feels like a cheat code. While experimenting with the AI-powered feature so far, I’ve encountered very few issues and I’ve been very impressed with its overall performance. That said, I wish more games officially supported FSR, especially FSR 3. It’s actually quite surprising how few games include FSR 2 or FSR 3 in their graphics settings. On the other hand, I’m hoping to find a use for AFMF down the line, but so far, a practical purpose hasn’t materialized for me.
I’m looking forward to testing FSR and RSR out in more titles, including older games, if only to see how far I can push their frame rates.
To access system-level RSR, head to the Amory Crate SE app, select
Settings
, then
Performance
, and
GPU Settings
. You’ll see settings for RSR and AFMF.
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#ROG #Ally #feature #blow #mind
