Credit where it’s due, AMD remains the only GPU manufacturer to offer a driver-based form of frame generation. While Fluid Motion Frames (FMF) is far from perfect, its potential to boost performance in games devoid of DLSS or FSR is undeniable. Enter FMF2, promising to build on the foundations laid by its predecessor with a small helping hand from AI.
AMD hasn’t shifted the system requirements for FMF2, so don’t fret if you’re short one of the best graphics cards out there. It’ll run on the entirety of the Radeon RX 6000 and 7000 series, alongside Ryzen 7000 series processors and newer. As much as we’d like to see Team Red support a wider range of devices, we’re glad to see it’s not pulling the rug from under those on ageing silicon.
The principle of a driver-based frame generation solution also remains the same with FMF2, but AMD’s given it some welcome tuning behind the scenes. Better still, it’s more configurable too with new controls in AMD Software: Adrenaline Edition. We’ll delve into the finer details of the changes below, but you can try it for yourself right now with the new preview driver.
FMF2 is AI-optimised, but it doesn’t use deep learning in real-time. Instead, AMD has leveraged artificial intelligence to improve the algorithm it uses to produce generated frames. To the naked eye, interpolated images should be of a higher quality, and stutter should also be less noticeable in gameplay. The feature is also conscious of the render resolution, swapping between “fallback” modes for 1080p or 1440p+ to enhance perceived smoothness.
In addition to visual improvements, AMD claims FMF2 will also deliver higher levels of performance across supported devices. The feature recognises whether it’s operating on discrete or integrated graphics and reduces its overhead depending on the resources available. This option runs automatically by default but is configurable, with ‘Quality’ and ‘Performance’ modes available to those who prefer more manual control.
Of course, the bugbear of all frame generation technologies is latency. Inserting generated frames into the rendering pipeline naturally has a domino effect on latency, but AMD reckons there’s nothing to worry about with FMF2. In fact, according to Team Red’s tests, it’s up to 28% lower compared to FMF. The company didn’t provide a clear baseline from which it drew these figures, though, so take these gains with a pinch of salt.
Other small improvements include support for borderless fullscreen and renderers outside of DirectX 12. You can read the full feature breakdown on AMD’s community page.
Welcome as FMF2 is, I’ll wait until third-party analysis comes to light before turning it on myself. Besides, most of the games I play are either so old that I can already run them at stupid-high frame rates, or they feature integrated frame generation solutions. Still, for those in need of it, I’m glad to see AMD continuing to iterate.