By integrating its Fluid Motion Frame technology within its drivers, AMD promises to significantly improve the fluidity of games with its dedicated graphics cards, but also with its processors for laptops, mini PCs and consoles.
This is discreet information but has great potential for improving gaming performance on machines equipped with AMD processors. In the exit note of the preview of its latest graphics driver, the chip designer announced at the beginning of January 2024 the upcoming arrival of a new technology aimed at significantly improving the number of frames per second in games (the famous FPS, for frames per second , which fascinate players so much). The final version did not take long since it is already available for compatible chips as confirmed by AMD in an official press release. And this new feature does not only concern the manufacturer’s dedicated graphics cards, but also Radeon 700M type integrated graphics circuits (iGPUs), which are now found in many processors equipping mini-PCs and portable consoles under Windows. Enough to be a game changer for users of these devices, but also for game developers.
Called MD Fluid Motion Frames (abbreviated as AFMF), this technology will not immediately disrupt the capabilities of the machines concerned, but could offer significant performance gains on many devices in the future, and make it possible to play even more comfortably on devices yet lacks a dedicated graphics card.
AMD Fluid Motion Frames: frame generation for everyone
AMD Fluid Motion Frames is a frame generation technology that aims to increase the frame rate in compatible video games, namely titles running DirectX 11 and 12. Schematically, AFMF uses an interpolation technique to calculate and insert an additional image between two existing images of the game, which theoretically allows you to double the number of frames per second (IPS) displayed on the screen and therefore improve fluidity. This is the same operating principle as Nvidia’s DLSS 3 Frame Generation.
Frame generation was introduced at AMD within FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR 3), the manufacturer’s in-house scaling technology, and was until now only available for games that supported it. . Its potential impact for players was therefore limited, because like Nivida’s DLSS 3, AMD’s FSR 3 requires integration work by developers on each of their games, mechanically slowing down its diffusion and restricting its use to a handful titles only.
However, AMD is seeking to improve the situation and is continuing its strategy which consists of making its technologies compatible with as many games as possible, such as the Radeon Super Resolution, a lighter version of the FSR 3 operating directly at the graphics driver level and not requiring therefore no specific development work on each game. Last September, the manufacturer announced the integration of certain frame generation techniques, from FSR 3, within the drivers for dedicated Radeon 7000 graphics cards, under the name AMD Fluid Motion Frames.
AMD Fluid Motion Frames: a technology beneficial to integrated GPUs
Shortly after, the company extended this integration to Radeon 6000 series graphics cards. And very recently, it has just announced that the latest preview of its AMD Software driver: Adrenalin Edition, which integrates AMD Fluid Motion Frames , would be compatible with processors embedding a Radeon 700M type integrated graphics circuit. And this news is particularly exciting and promising for at least two reasons.
On the one hand, the integration of frame generation techniques directly within graphics drivers will allow a very wide range of games to benefit from gains, perhaps substantial, in terms of frame rate, without requiring any additional work from the developers. On the other hand, Radeon 700M iGPU processors are starting to become particularly widespread, particularly in mini PCs (like the Beelink GTR7 equipped with a Ryzen 7840HS), laptop PCs (like the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED) and portable gaming consoles running Windows 11, such as the Asus ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go. These small machines could therefore benefit from a significant improvement in their in-game performance in the coming months, without any hardware modification or any additional cost for users.
Among the processors concerned, we find in particular the Ryzen 7040U, which equip many laptops and mini-PCs from very popular manufacturers, such as Beelink or Minisforum, but also the future Ryzen 8040U and 8000G, planned for the start of the year 2024, and the famous Ryzen Z1 and Z1 Extreme embedded in the aforementioned Asus and Lenovo portable consoles. The fleet of machines that will ultimately benefit from AMD Fluid Motion Frames is therefore already considerable and is expected to expand further in the coming years.
AMD Fluid Motion Frames: the final version is here
Initially available in a beta version, the Adrenalin Edition 24.1.1 driver, which therefore integrates AMD Fluid Motion Frames, has finally been finalized. It is now possible to download it for all compatible circuits. However, for portable game consoles under Windows, the graphics drivers must be modified and adapted by the manufacturers for the specific needs of their machines; you will therefore have to wait until after the release of the drivers on PC to benefit from them on these devices.
Download Adrenalin Edition 24.1.1 driver
This announcement and the prospects it opens up only bode well for both players and developers. Although AMD is struggling against Nvidia and the formidable efficiency of its technologies, the company seems to want to follow a slightly different path than its competitor. While DLSS offers excellent results in terms of performance in games, its support requires significant work on the part of developers on each game, which limits its availability to a limited catalog, although constantly evolving. .
In contrast, the solution chosen by AMD to integrate its scaling (RSR) and frame generation (AFMF) technologies directly into the graphics drivers, offers the advantage of universality and conceals a huge potential for video games on new small machines, such as mini-PCs and portable consoles under Windows, which seem to be becoming a real underlying trend in recent years.