The Steam Machine is a cool little console that’s about as powerful as a PlayStation 5, according to my colleague Sean Hollister’s in-depth review. But one area where it lags behind is with its earlier version of AMD FSR upscaler: It’s just not as good as it should be. Yes, it can sharpen low-res graphics to make games look higher-res, but the PS5 (and especially the PS5 Pro) render a clearer image in motion with some games we compared.
That’s not great news for the Steam Machine, especially since it’s launching at $1,049 for the 512GB version — a higher price than anyone hoped for. But there is some hope that games on the console will look somewhat better in the future. Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais told The Verge that it’s working with AMD to bring FSR 4, its latest bag of upscaling and performance-improving tools, to the Steam Machine.
In an email, Valve adds that FSR 4 is “coming soon” but that it “can’t say more about timing.” This is all encouraging to hear, since the last we heard in the “will-it-won’t-it” drama, the likelihood of AMD bringing FSR 4 to devices with RDNA3 integrated GPUs (such as the Steam Machine) was a little bleak.
FSR 4 contains numerous enhancements that improve how compatible games running with the upscaler look in motion (including AI-assisted frame generation), which will hopefully give the Steam Machine a definitive edge over Sony’s six-year-old, $650 console. Valve tells us “It should offer a significant improvement in upscaling graphical quality.”
Additional reporting by Sean Hollister.