Hardware Unboxed explains why AMD FSR Frame Generation still feels unsmooth
AMD has released several updates to FSR Frame Generation since FSR 3 debuted in 2023, but one of its oldest problems appears to remain unresolved. New testing from Hardware Unboxed shows that FSR Frame Generation can still suffer from inconsistent frame pacing , even with the newer machine learning-based FSR 4 implementation.
The issue is not the generation of intermediate frames itself. Instead, it concerns how those frames reach the display. Hardware Unboxed found cases where generated and rendered frames remained on screen for different amounts of time, producing a repeating “double tap” pattern. A game can report 120 FPS with Frame Generation enabled while motion does not appear as smooth as a properly paced 120 FPS output.
Native FSR 4 does not solve the problem
The latest tests were performed on a Radeon RX 9070 XT with AMD Software 26.7.1. Older games using FSR 3.1 upgraded through AMD’s driver continued to show pacing problems, including Cyberpunk 2077, God of War Ragnarök and Hogwarts Legacy. Hardware Unboxed concluded that AMD’s driver-level FSR upgrade has not corrected the behavior in these titles.
Source: Hardware Unboxed
More importantly, the same issue appeared in games with native FSR 4 Frame Generation support. Crimson Desert showed uneven delivery at around 115 FPS, while Resident Evil Requiem and the recently updated Alan Wake 2 also displayed the same behavior. Some games performed better, but native integration did not consistently eliminate the problem.
Hardware Unboxed also addressed comments that somehow Vertical Sync can fix the issue. The reviewers claim otherwise.
A couple of people suggested that FSR FG frame pacing is fixed if you force Vsync on. This is not true, frame pacing is broken regardless of Vsync settings. Here are some examples of FSR FG with Vsync forced on in the driver (and in the case of Crimson Desert, also enabled in the…
— Hardware Unboxed (@HardwareUnboxed) August 21, 2026
FSR Frame Generation 4.0.1 already includes pacing-related changes
AMD released FSR Frame Generation 4.0.1 with FSR SDK 2.3 in June. The update fixes motion-vector preprocessing and camera-data handling, while Frame Generation SwapChain 3.1.7 includes a change intended to improve GPU frame pacing. Despite those changes, Hardware Unboxed still found less consistent pacing than NVIDIA DLSS Frame Generation across its test sample.
Nearly three years after the first FSR Frame Generation release, AMD therefore still has work to do on how generated frames are presented to the display.
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