this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
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Steam Deck

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Before anyone thinks I'm talking about the new Decky plugin: no, that's not what this is about.

I'm trying to get universal FSR up and running on my deck. I've looked up several guides like this one, but no matter what I do the FSR option won't show up.

To me it looks like a software update changed how the settings work, and none of the guides have been updated to reflect that.

Does anyone know how get it up and running? I've been trying for hours with no luck.

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[–] Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 24 points 5 days ago (2 children)

It's no longer called FSR, it's now "Sharp" scaling filter.

To enable it, the game first needs to be running at a lower resolution than the display. You can either set the resolution lower than 1280/800 in game settings or in steam properties for that specific game. Once you're in the game, press the QAM button (the ". . ." button), go to performance menu (circle with a lightning bolt), enable advanced view, then scroll down to the bottom. There's "Scaling Mode" and "Scaling Filter".

Scaling mode controls how it stretches the screen:

  • auto - keeps the aspect ratio (max of x2 scaling)
  • integer - scales while preserving pixel ratio, this makes it the best option for pixel art games
  • fill - will fill the whole screen while keeping aspect ratio the same. If the game isn't 16:10 ratio, it will clip off part of the video.
  • stretch - fill whole screen, stretch to fit. Ignores aspect ratio, so can distort image.
  • fit - preserves aspect ratio, scales to screen (like auto but no max scaling amount I think)

Scaling filter controls how it scales the game up:

  • Linear - basic scaling, minimal performance impact
  • Pixel - use this for pixel art games
  • Sharp - previously called FSR, will add detail and sharpen the image. When you enable this, it will also add a sharpness slider beneath the scaling filter slider. Using this when upscaling to a much higher resolution display (like a 4k TV) can cause a noticeable performance hit, I recommend capping the max external display resolution to 1080p in the Steam>Display settings if you notice performance issues with this.
[–] kadup@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Not sure why your comment got downvoted, you're correct.

Valve removed NIS and renamed all other options. FSR 1.0, the horrendous looking matrix-based scaler, is now simply called "Sharp" and indeed you need to set the game at a lower than native resolution, with no upscaling, for it to make any difference.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works -2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

It's downvoted because it doesn't address the core problem of FSR not turning on.

It wasn't that big of a leap to try out all the steps in the guide with the setting set to sharp in case things were renamed. I had already tried that 2 evenings ago, even before I saw other discussion online explaining it.

The real problem is that FSR1 won't turn on. Having the menu options renamed is just a confounding factor to it

[–] kadup@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

There's no "turning on" FSR. It's a simple per pixel scalar.

If your game is not running at the native resolution and you're stretching it, Steam Deck is upscaling it. How it upscales is entirely defined by that setting. Sharp means FSR.

That's it. There's no way for this to fail, otherwise you'd be seeing a tiny window for the game.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Then explain why gamescope keeps showing me "FSR: OFF" no matter what settings I use

[–] kadup@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Because you apparently are not capable of setting a game to a window with resolution inferior to the native screen.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works -1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

So you have absolutely no actual advice to give. You're just here to be a shit.

Yeah, you're not worth bothering with anymore. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, douchbag.

[–] kadup@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

People gave you the exact solution to your "problem", which isn't actually a problem but rather the expected behavior of FSR 1.0 being implemented as a shader.

You then downvoted and complained about the user. There's no extra advice to give: you rejected or is incapable of using the feature as designed, what else can anybody do for you?

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Doesn't work.

Checking with GameScope shows that FSR doesn't turn on, even when setting the resolution lower.

And it doesn't matter if I adjust the resolution in the Deck's settings or in game, nor does it matter if it's on the built in display or docked to a TV.

[–] Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 2 points 4 days ago

You may need to switch the game from fullscreen to windowed, and try different scaling options.