Does FSR4 make you less interested in current and future PC handhelds?

Rosoboy19

Rosoboy19

Member
I've considered getting a PC handheld for a while now but ever since the FSR4 reveal my interest has dropped quite a bit, even for new devices coming out like Legion Go S and the Xbox handheld. These devices rely heavily on upscaling and it just feels like FSR3 is dated and low quality at this point.

I have no idea how long it will take for AMD to get AI upscaling into a mobile APU. Hopefully Valve can accelerate the timeline with a custom Steam Deck 2 SOC.

FSR-4-resolves-the-image-degradation-issues-in-motion-present-in-FSR-3.jpg
 
I don't follow this space super closely, but from what I have gathered, we've been at the end of the current generation of handheld PC chips for a bit now. Valve is waiting for the next generation of SOCs that will have a more meaningful power bump before they do a Steam Deck 2. If I were looking to buy a handheld PC, I'd do a deep dive on rumors for upcoming SOCs to see if there's anything planned for later this year. If so, I'd probably wait. If not, I'd really consider how much I want to play games on a handheld over the next 12 months vs. the cost.

FSR4 to me is a bullet point under the larger question of new and more powerful SOCs.
 
Why would FSR 4 make you less less interesting in handhelds - i dont get your point.

Handhelds are designed for accessibility. If anything, FSR 4 being quite good already opens up more games for much higher frame rates. I20fps should be attainable on newer handhelds, which is very welcome.
 
Not really.
The smearing and imperfections of FSR3 are less noticeable when you are playing on a small screen

b0uncyfr0 said:
Why would FSR 4 make you less less interesting in handhelds - i dont get your point.

Handhelds are designed for accessibility. If anything, FSR 4 being quite good already opens up more games for much higher frame rates. I20fps should be attainable on newer handhelds, which is very welcome.
Click to expand...

I think he means because so far FSR4 is exclusive to the RX 9070 line of cards so it likely won't be available on any handheld coming out in the near future.
 
I love pc handhelds even without it. I was playing my legion go in bed, multiplayer with the boys, with AirPods and Rayneo glasses just last night. It's pretty wild what you can do nowadays. On the smaller screens the FSR artifacts are not too big of a deal imo. I'm not expecting top notch performance and IQ on a tiny handheld pc in the first place. Just the fact that I can play any pc game, even back from the 90s on a full os without having to rebuy my games is just insane to me.
 
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AMD did say they were looking to back port FSR 4 to RDNA 3 but that might take some time. Otherwise it might be worth waiting it out for RDNA 4 based APU and handhelds.

I'm personally waiting for 3nm based APU's before thinking of any new handheld to upgrade from my Steam Deck. Which should come with usable RT, better battery life and FSR 4.
 
Fbh said:
I think he means because so far FSR4 is exclusive to the RX 9070 line of cards so it likely won't be available on any handheld coming out in the near future.
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Correct. I probably should have said…
"Does lack of FSR4 make you less interested in current and future PC handhelds?"

Mods feel free to edit the title if desired
 
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Uhm. If you're using the device solely as a handheld, on a portable screen, whether it be 720p or 1080p, or anything in between - seriously, you don't see much of a difference. Like, those screenshots are way zoomed in. Which is how it's supposed to be, but really, you're looking at a tiny screen at quite a distance.
 
More, i've wanted a handheld for years, monitoring each release closely, but I am still waiting for "the one" that checks all my boxes.

Switch 2 is the closest, the mouse controls is something i didnt even know ive previously wanted, but the OLED + VRR + good upscaling (FSR4 fits) + steam library perfect combo still eludes me.
 
I love my Switch but PC handhelds are not for me. They aren't popular enough. I know without doubt that there will be issues with them that I won't be able to tolerate. There is safety in numbers. When PC handhelds get good enough to be somewhat popular I'll give them another look.
 
Fbh said:
I think he means because so far FSR4 is exclusive to the RX 9070 line of cards so it likely won't be available on any handheld coming out in the near future.
Click to expand...

AMD is already porting FSR4 to RDNA4.
People in the AMD Vanguard program are already testing it.
 
b0uncyfr0 said:
Why would FSR 4 make you less less interesting in handhelds - i dont get your point.

Handhelds are designed for accessibility. If anything, FSR 4 being quite good already opens up more games for much higher frame rates. I20fps should be attainable on newer handhelds, which is very welcome.
Click to expand...
Yes, FSR4 has been a revelation.

I don't get OPs point at all.

Handhelds are designed to be portable and power efficient not graphical powerhouses.
 
Zacfoldor said:
I love my Switch but PC handhelds are not for me. They aren't popular enough. I know without doubt that there will be issues with them that I won't be able to tolerate. There is safety in numbers. When PC handhelds get good enough to be somewhat popular I'll give them another look.
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WTH popularity has anything to do with it???

"Oh no, Mclaren F1 is not popular so I don't want one."
 
T4keD0wN said:
More, i've wanted a handheld for years, monitoring each release closely, but I am still waiting for "the one" that checks all my boxes.

Switch 2 is the closest, the mouse controls is something i didnt even know ive previously wanted, but the OLED + VRR + good upscaling (FSR4 fits) + steam library perfect combo still eludes me.
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The legion go 2 would check all of that, vrr, OLED, probably fsr4 back port as it has RDNA 3.5, even the mouse controls if you detach the controllers like the switch can. I have a steam deck OLED and just recently got the legion go 1. It's not perfect but man it's so versatile. You can even use it like a tablet. It's a neat machine, I ended up liking it way more than I expected to.
 
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JohnnyFootball said:
Yes, FSR4 has been a revelation.

I don't get OPs point at all.

Handhelds are designed to be portable and power efficient not graphical powerhouses.
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Title could have been clearer…It's the lack of FSR4 in current and future handhelds that I was getting at.

As others have pointed out, on a small portable screen the difference in quality is probably not that noticeable between FSR3 and FSR4. This is helping ease my FOMO a bit, lol
 
winjer said:
AMD is already porting FSR4 to RDNA4.
People in the AMD Vanguard program are already testing it.
Click to expand...
I thought RDNA4 was only on desktop at this point though, with no clear plans to add it to a mobile APU anytime soon?
Or did you mean RDNA3?
 
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I use my Legion Go for playing old games; any demanding new games get streamed from my gaming PC via Moonlight.


So no, i don't are about FSR4 (or any upscaling) on my handheld.
 
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Rosoboy19 said:
Title could have been clearer…It's the lack of FSR4 in current and future handhelds that I was getting at.

As others have pointed out, on a small portable screen the difference in quality is probably not that noticeable between FSR3 and FSR4. This is helping ease my FOMO a bit, lol
Click to expand...
You don't know if Steam Deck 2.0 will lack FSR4.
 
I have no interest or need for a handheld. I'm not 5 years old .. I'm not waiting around anywhere long enough to warrant the need.
 
rodrigolfp said:
WTH popularity has anything to do with it???

"Oh no, Mclaren F1 is not popular so I don't want one."
Click to expand...

Well, when there is a problem with the McLaren F1, you will have far fewer people with experience on the car help solve it, and just touching it feels like a liability. You might be buying into a lifestyle that expects a lot of money on maintenance or replacement parts. When you get a Toyota you know you are surrounded with people who drive them, know how they work and with parts flooded everywhere, and are insulated with a massive economy of scale, so you aren't really concerned about the car equivalent of the SD card port blowing out from heat.
 
Nah I'd rather just stick to low-end games at native res on a handheld. Big games at home with big screen and big speakers.
 
They will most likely back port FSR4 to RDNA3 aswell. With that said, I don't use FSR on handhelds. The artifacting is simply too crazy. I just lower both display and game resolution and enjoy the games that way. Most games are playable in 720p in handheld form even if 1200p is of course ideal for an 8'' like mine. What I am envious though is the potential of Switch 2 using DLSS in handheld mode. If DLSS existed for these handhelds, they would change everything. One would be able to upscale from 540p upwards with very little artifacting on a 7-8'' display. That's a real bummer missing out on it.
 
Yes 360p upscaled to 1080p with dlss3 fsr4 is the future(handheld) . Look good enough imo .
 
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Mibu no ookami said:
Confused High Quality GIF


Why are you acting like future handhelds won't have FSR4, DLSS4, and PSSR when they obviously will?
Click to expand...
Future PC handhelds are unlikely to have DLSS4 unless Nvidia somehow partner with AMD or Intel to create a unique Intel/Nvidia SoC with Intel x64 CPU instructions and Nvidia GPU. That is extremely unlikely to happen in this climate of hyper greed and big corporations being so closely tied to a nation's interests.
 
BlackTron said:
Well, when there is a problem with the McLaren F1, you will have far fewer people with experience on the car help solve it, and just touching it feels like a liability. You might be buying into a lifestyle that expects a lot of money on maintenance or replacement parts. When you get a Toyota you know you are surrounded with people who drive them, know how they work and with parts flooded everywhere, and are insulated with a massive economy of scale, so you aren't really concerned about the car equivalent of the SD card port blowing out from heat.
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To want one is one thing. It being "viable" is another.
 
For sure, I was actually considering the MSI Claw for a while because it has XeSS, but not a lot of games support it unfortunately and the Claw itself is not that great either.

But FSR4 actually being good put all handheld plans on hold for now. I dream of a future where they are good enough to be the only gaming device you need.
 
To me hanhelds are for old shit

I dont want to play a new game at sub 30 FPS / 720p with FSR on Performance while having 2h of battery life

But playing something like GTA IV on the go at 1080p 60 FPS and still having battery for the next day? Now we are talking.
 
rodrigolfp said:
What he wants is very viable.
Click to expand...

Same circular logic. The reason I used cars isn't because it's not viable, it's because you picked cars. The idea/principle he is getting at scales to anything.

For example you don't want the $10 FanDisk USB stick because it's unproven and you suspect you will have problems. You just get the $15 Sandisk one that the entire world already purchased feeling more safe that it won't malfunction. In this case even though it's MORE EXPENSIVE his idea applies. He wants to solve a problem and move on, not inherit another one. There is still a level of uncertainty with software updates, game compatibility and time tinkering required even for good handelds like Steam Deck and Legion Go that just does not exist whatsoever on a console.

I like both PC and a no-stress, ironclad console experience. So I go both PC and Nintendo handheld. They're extremely complementary, covering each others bases. Using both all the time is how I know sometimes I don't want PC and prefer console. Also how I know console has deficiency that commands PC. It's all valid but you get overly defensive for your platform of choice 🤷‍♂️ It's worse for you now that Nintendo has mouse support and 120FPS screen, so a lot of games that utterly demanded owning a PC to even take seriously playing at all are made viable.
 
BlackTron said:
Same circular logic. The reason I used cars isn't because it's not viable, it's because you picked cars. The idea/principle he is getting at scales to anything.

For example you don't want the $10 FanDisk USB stick because it's unproven and you suspect you will have problems. You just get the $15 Sandisk one that the entire world already purchased feeling more safe that it won't malfunction. In this case even though it's MORE EXPENSIVE his idea applies. He wants to solve a problem and move on, not inherit another one. There is still a level of uncertainty with software updates, game compatibility and time tinkering required even for good handelds like Steam Deck and Legion Go that just does not exist whatsoever on a console.

I like both PC and a no-stress, ironclad console experience. So I go both PC and Nintendo handheld. They're extremely complementary, covering each others bases. Using both all the time is how I know sometimes I don't want PC and prefer console. Also how I know console has deficiency that commands PC. It's all valid but you get overly defensive for your platform of choice 🤷‍♂️ It's worse for you now that Nintendo has mouse support and 120FPS screen, so a lot of games that utterly demanded owning a PC to even take seriously playing at all are made viable.
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A $15 Sandisk stick and a $400 handheld PC are not big problem if malfunction. A $40 million car is.

And there is no suck thing as defending a platform of choice when we can have more than 1 platform. I would go with PC + Handheld PC + Nintendo handheld. 🤷‍♂️

And only in dreams the Nintendo mouse + 120fps for multi platform games will be a worth thing vs a powerful Desktop.
 
rodrigolfp said:
A $15 Sandisk stick and a $400 handheld PC are not big problem if malfunction. A $40 million car is.

And there is no suck thing as defending a platform of choice when we can have more than 1 platform. I would go with PC + Handheld PC + Nintendo handheld. 🤷‍♂️

And only in dreams the Nintendo mouse + 120fps for multi platform games will be a worth thing vs a powerful Desktop.
Click to expand...

That's where we disagree because there are many games that are much better with a mouse but so long as your hardware isn't a complete potato it doesn't matter.

You could easily reach a point where you're cycling a bunch of games on Switch and just use PC for a few high test titles at a time.

As a random example I play Kingdom Rush on PC because of mouse support even though I tried it on Switch as well. If I had mouse on Switch I wouldn't really need the PC version ever again because Switch would just have every option in a small package. Of course a powerful desktop will always be better than a Switch for games that stress hardware but that also applies to your PC handheld. In fact the Switch 2 punches above many PC handhelds with the 120hz screen and more efficient GPU tech. Point is games that weren't really viable to play on a non-PC handheld console at all suddenly can be without being a complete joke to gloss over entirely. Doom for Switch, while cool they made it work at all, lost me without mouse support and muddy gfx while owning a PC. I kept the demo on my console as a novelty tech demo and that was it. But if you played that game on Switch 2, fine. It would have mouse support, look great and maybe even 120FPS. No pity or mocking required. Before you say anything, no shit Dark Ages will run better on 5090 than Switch 2. But Switch 2 will still competently run the game while neither being a joke like Doom 2016 nor requiring a $3k PC to achieve performance you can spot the difference with.
 
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Yeah that has crossed my mind but I'm looking more at tablets, laptops, and minis. That strix halo was pretty exciting at first but with fsr4 that same compute would go twice as far on a smaller screen. So it seems a shame. Maybe they can get it going on rdna3.5 but I'm expecting a long wait till udna.

Well enough because I was only going to get seriously interested in buying something like that if they can get one out gaming focused with a little less cpu and a little more gpu on the die and for a better price.
 
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