GPUOpen is a middleware software suite originally developed by AMD's Radeon Technologies Group that offers advanced visual effects for computer games. It was released in 2016. GPUOpen serves as an alternative to, and a direct competitor of Nvidia GameWorks. GPUOpen is similar to GameWorks in that it encompasses several different graphics technologies as its main components that were previously independent and separate from one another. However, GPUOpen is partially open source software, unlike GameWorks which is proprietary and closed.
History
GPUOpen was announced on December 15, 2015, and released on January 26, 2016.
Rationale Nicolas Thibieroz, AMD's Senior Manager of Worldwide Gaming Engineering, argues that "it can be difficult for developers to leverage their R&D investment on both consoles and PC because of the disparity between the two platforms" and that "proprietary libraries or tools chains with 'black box' APIs prevent developers from accessing the code for maintenance, porting or optimizations purposes". He says that upcoming architectures, such as AMD's RX 400 series "include many features not exposed today in PC graphics APIs".
AMD designed GPUOpen to be a competing open-source middleware stack released under the MIT License. The libraries are intended to increase software portability between video game consoles, PCs and also high-performance computing.
Components GPUOpen unifies many of AMD's previously separate tools and solutions into one package, also fully open-sourcing them under the MIT License. GPUOpen also makes it easy for developers to get low-level GPU access.
Additionally AMD wants to grant interested developers the kind of low-level "direct access" to their GCN-based GPUs, that surpasses the possibilities of Direct3D 12 or Vulkan. AMD mentioned e.g. a low-level access to the Asynchronous Compute Engines (ACEs). The ACE implement "Asynchronous Compute", but they cannot be freely configured under either Vulkan or Direct3D 12.
GPUOpen is made up of several main components, tools, and SDKs.
Games and CGI Software for computer-generated imagery (CGI) used in development of computer games and movies alike.
Visual effects libraries
+GPUOpen Visual Effects LibrariesNameAPISourceDescriptionTressFXDirectX 12, VulkanGitHubThis visual effects library allows the creation of realistic hair, fur, and grass.GeometryFXDirectX 11GitHubThis library allows easy access to compute-based triangle filtering.DepthOfFieldFXDirectX 11GitHubThis library grants access to a depth of field implementation optimized for the GCN GPU architecture via a compute shader.ShadowFXDirectX 11, DirectX 12GitHubThis library grants access to an implementation for deferred shadow filtering that is optimized for the GCN GPU architecture.FidelityFXDirectX 11, DirectX 12, VulkanGitHubFidelityFX is a suite of visual effects and effects-helper libraries.
FidelityFX
+FidelityFX ComponentsNameAlgorithmSourceDescriptionOfficial supportFidelityFX CASContrast Adaptive SharpeningGitHubThis algorithm adaptively sharpens an image or scene while minimizing artifacts.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX CACAOCombined Adaptive Compute Ambient OcclusionGitHubThis algorithm is an optimized implementation of adaptive sampling ambient occlusion.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX LPMLuminance Preserving MapperGitHubThis algorithm is used to tone map the luma of an RGB pixel rather than tone mapping the color of the pixel.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX SPDSingle Pass DownsamplerGitHubThis algorithm, optimized for the RDNA GPU architecture, is used to generate 12 MIP levels for a given texture.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX SSSRStochastic Screen Space ReflectionsGitHubThis algorithm is used to add screen space reflections to a frame or scene.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX VSVariable ShadingGitHubThis algorithm is used to generate image-based variable rate shading using the luminance of samples in the prior frame.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX Parallel SortRadix SortGitHubThis algorithm provides a compute-based radix sort.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX DenoiserShadow & Reflection DenoiserGitHubThis algorithm provides denoising functionality for ray-traced shadows and ray-traced or screen-space reflections.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX Super Resolution 1Spatial UpsamplerGitHubThis algorithm is used to upsample an image or frame into a higher resolution using only the spatial information provided in the input frame.DirectX 11+, DirectX 12, VulkanFidelityFX Super Resolution 2Temporal UpscalerGitHubThis algorithm is used to upscale frame(s) into a higher resolution using the temporal information provided by input frames.DirectX 12, VulkanFSR 3 Frame GenerationAnalytical temporal frame interpolatorGitHubThis algorithm increases the perceived frame rate of a game by calculating an intermediate frame based of two already rendered frames.AMD RDNA 2+, NVIDIA RTX 20+, Intel ArcFSR™ “Redstone”FSR™ UpscalingNeural network-based image upscalerGitHubThis algorithm uses machine learning–based models to upscale rendered frames to a higher resolution. AMD RDNA 4FSR™ Frame GenerationNeural network-based frame interpolatorThis algorithm uses machine learning-based models to generate an intermediate frame based off two already rendered frames. AMD RDNA 4FSR™ Ray RegenerationNeural network-based real-time denoiserThis algorithm uses machine learning-based models to denoise ray traced surfaces.AMD RDNA 4FSR™ Radiance Caching (Technical Preview)Neural network-based radiance cachingThis algorithm uses machine learning-based models to approximate indirect radiance in path-traced scenes, reducing the number of required ray calculations.AMD RDNA 4
FidelityFX Super Resolution FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) is a real time rendering technology suite. There are multiple versions of FSR with distinctive techniques: +Release history Release Release date Highlights 1.0 / 1.0.1 Jun 2021 FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) launch, source code available July 2021. 1.0.2 Nov 2021 Robust Contrast-Adaptive Sharpening (RCAS) oversharpening hotfix. 1.1 Jul 2023 Available as part of FidelityFX SDK. 2.0.1 / 2.0.1a Mar 2022 FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 (FSR 2) launch, source code available June 2022. 2.1.0 Sep 2022 Reduced ghosting and improved upscaling quality. Farming Simulator 2022 was one of early adopters with patch 1.7.1. 2.1.1 Sep 2022 2.1.2 Oct 2022 2.2.0 / 2.2.0a Nov 2022 HDR range improvements, ghosting and flickering artefacts reduction. Source code available February 2023. 2.2.1 Jun 2023 2.2.2 Jul 2023 Available as part of FidelityFX SDK. 3.0 / 3.0.3 Sep 2023 FSR 3 adds frame generation combined with FSR 2 and Anti-Lag+ and supports GPUs from AMD, Nvidia, and Intel. FSR 3 is also compatible with the ninth generation of video game consoles.Source code available December 2023 as part of FidelityFX SDK. 3.0.4 Mar 2024 3.1.0 Jun 2024 Reduced ghosting, flickering and shimmering and improved temporal stability. Decoupled frame generation from upscaling. Made source file easily upgradable for developers. Vulkan and Xbox Game Development Kit (GDK) support. Source code available July 2024 as part of FidelityFX SDK 1.1.FSR “Redstone”FSR Upscaling (4.0.2)Aug 2025Introduced a machine learning-based algorithm to increase the resolution of an image based off an input image.FSR Upscaling (4.0.3)Dec 2025Fixing a rendering error when surface dimensions are not multiples of 8.FSR Frame Generation (4.0.0)Dec 2025Introduced a machine learning-based frame interpolation algorithm.FSR Ray Regeneration (1.0.0)Dec 2025Introduced a machine learning-based real-time denoiser for ray-traced workloads.FSR Radiance Caching (0.9.0) (Preview)Dec 2025Machine learning–based radiance caching technique that approximates indirect lighting in path-traced scenes to reduce ray sampling requirements (preview). The standard presets for FSR by AMD can be found in the table below. Note that these presets are not the only way in which the algorithm can be used, they are simply presets for input/output resolutions. Certain titles, such as Dota 2, offer resolution sliders to fine tune the scaling percentage or dynamically scaling the internal render resolution depending on the FPS cap. AMD has also created a command-line interface tool which allows the user to upscale any image using FSR1/EASU as in addition to other upsampling methods such as bilinear interpolation. It also allows the user to run various stages of the FSR pipeline, such as RCAS, independently. +Standard FSR presetsQuality presetScale factorRender scaleNative AA (since v3.0)1.00×100%Ultra Quality (v1.0 only)1.30×77.0%Quality1.50×66.6%Balanced1.70×58.8%Performance2.00×50.0%Ultra Performance (since v2.0)3.00×33.3%
FSR 2 can also be modded into nearly any game supporting DLSS by swapping the DLSS DLL with a translation layer DLL that maps the DLSS API calls to FSR 2 API calls.
Frame Generation FSR 3 adds frame generation, a technique that creates new frames in between existing ones by using motion interpolation. Launching in September 2023, FSR 3 uses a combination of FSR 2 and optical flow analysis, which runs using asynchronous compute (as opposed to Nvidia's DLSS 3 which uses dedicated hardware). Because FSR 3 uses a software-based solution, it is compatible with GPUs from AMD, Nvidia, and Intel as well as the ninth generation of video game consoles. To combat additional latency inherent to the frame generation process, AMD has a driver-level feature called Anti-Lag, which only runs on AMD GPUs.
FSR “Redstone” adds a machine learning-based approach to generate frames.
AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) is a driver-level frame generation technology launching in Q1 2024 which is compatible with all DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 games, however it runs on RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 GPUs. AFMF uses optical flow analysis but not motion vectors, so it can only interpolate a new frame between two traditionally rendered frames. AFMF currently is not compatible with VSYNC.
Tools The official AMD directory lists:
Name Source code API OS Task CodeXL CodeXL Direct3D, OpenGL, OpenCL, Vulkan LinuxWindows software development tool suite that includes a GPU debugger, a GPU profiler, a CPU profiler, a static OpenCL kernel analyzer and various plugins. static analyzer for AMD CodeXL amd-codexl-analyzer Direct3D, OpenGL, OpenCL LinuxWindows 64bit Off-line compiler and performance analysis CLI-tool for processing: OpenCL kernels, HLSL shaders and GLSL shaderspart of the AMD CodeXL tools suiteRequires either Radeon Software Crimson Edition or AMD Catalyst to be installed to run this tool. D3D 12 plug-in for GPU PerfStudio amd-gpuperfstudio-dx12 Direct3D 12 Windows a plug-in to GPU PerfStudio GPU perfstudio Tootle amd-tootle agnostic LinuxWindows Triangle Order Optimization Tool; originally developed in 2006; can be easily integrated as part of a rendering or mesh pre-processing tool chain Cf. http://mgarland.org/files/papers/quadrics.pdf
Having been released by ATI Technologies under the BSD license in 2006 HLSL2GLSL is not part of GPUOpen. Whether similar tools for SPIR-V will be available remains to be seen, as is the official release of the Vulkan (API) itself. Source-code that has been defined as being part of GPUOpen is also part of the Linux kernel (e.g. amdgpu and amdkfd), Mesa 3D and LLVM.
Software development kits