Xbox Ally Handhelds Are Getting an Upscaled Lease on Life Through AMD’s FSR 4.1
A graphics upgrade arrives
AMD’s update brings its FSR 4.1 upscaling model to the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and its costlier sibling, the Xbox Ally X20. The model had been exclusive to Radeon RX 9000-series graphics cards, and AMD had said it was not designed for the RDNA 3.5 architecture in the handhelds’ Ryzen Z2 Extreme chips.
Upscaling can be especially valuable on handhelds, where power is limited. It can help games run better and improve their appearance, although the benefits depend on each title.
Installing and enabling FSR
Owners can find the update in the Armoury Crate SE app, available from the handheld’s quick settings. In Update Center, they should look under Preview Updates and download AMD Radeon Graphics Driver version 32.0.32015.7029.
After installing it, users can add the AMD FSR Upscaling icon to the Command Center toolbar through its options menu. Turning on the setting applies FSR 4.1 to supported games; not every game in a player’s backlog is compatible.
Results differ by game
In Cyberpunk 2077, the article’s test reached about 44 frames per second using 720p upscaling in Quality mode, matching the rate achieved without the upgrade when scaling from 540p to 1080p in Balanced mode. The results are not consistent across titles.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword did not reach 60 frames per second on medium settings, with or without FSR 4.1, but the updated upscaling reduced visual issues such as frizzy character hair and noisy textures. In 007: First Light, distant details appeared less defined with FSR 4.1 disabled.
Limits and other handhelds
The update also refines AMD’s frame-generation technology, but the article notes that frame pacing problems can add to perceived latency. AMD head of computing and graphics Jack Hyunh has said the company is working to address those issues.
The update does not currently apply directly to other handhelds using the same Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip. The Lenovo Legion Go 2 requires users to download and force driver updates manually, and the article’s writer had not tested that process.
Key points
- AMD’s FSR 4.1 update is available for Asus ROG Xbox Ally X handhelds.
- The driver is available through Armoury Crate SE’s Preview Updates.
- Image quality and performance gains vary by game; some titles may not support the feature.
- Other handhelds with the same chip may require manually forced driver updates.