Cyberpunk 2077 got a massive update recently. Update 2.3 arrived alongside a Mac release and brought a ton of new content, including new vehicles, AutoDrive, bug fixes, an improved photo mode, and much more. Importantly, the update finally added support to newer upscaling technology, namely AMD’s FSR 3.1 Frame Gen, FSR 4, and Intel’s XeSS 2.0.

Up until now, Cyberpunk has been championing Nvidia’s latest DLSS models, notably being one of the showcase titles for DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation when it launched early this year. People have already been testing the newly implemented features, though FSR 4 support is still buggy and confusing. And it turns out, not as good as the OptiScaler mod.

FSR 4 is better using the OptiScaler mod

The update 2.3 patch notes explicitly say that the FSR 4 option will not be available in-game until AMD releases a driver to solidify support. However, players have already reported this is not the case, but using it can crash the game. YouTuber Ancient Gameplays discovered that the SI Driver for Radeon RX 9060 XT fixes FSR 4 support, and it indeed makes a difference.

But now, new footage on Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili has emerged to compare the FSR 4 performance using the in-game option versus OptiScaler. This is a mod that unlocks upscaling and frame generation support for a wide range of GPUs, though it should be noted that FSR 4 is still only available for RX 9000 series GPUs. You can read more about it on GitHub.

According to the comparison, FSR 4 with OptiScaler runs with slightly higher FPS (around 10 frames) and with less obvious visual bugs using the same resolution/upscaling settings. The image below highlights this; the in-game implementation is on the right.

AMD is yet to release an official driver to support FSR 4 in Cyberpunk 2077. While the RX 9060 XT driver offers a workaround right now, AMD seems to have dropped the ball here. We expect the official support (whenever that may arrive) to be the best implementation of FSR 4 for the game, so you can stop having to rely on workarounds. For now, though, turning to OptiScaler seems to be your best bet for optimizing performance with an RX 9000 series graphics card.

At least FSR 3.1 frame generation is finally here, though the actual upscaling component of 3.1 is sadly not implemented. You’ll have to use 3.0 for that – or you could always try XeSS 2.0.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.