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- Jul 1, 2024
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[Background]
Just bought the new AMD 9070XT last week (upgrading from 3090) , and couldn't wait to test the AFMF2.1 feature.
But as a result, AFMF didn’t work in VAM. The overlay in the top-right corner said AFMF "not compatible with the game's display mode", and stayed inactive.
[The Fix]
After a ton of testing and research, I finally figured out the problem:
AMD Adrenalin Software seemed not correctly detecting VAM’s API as DirectX11 — and maybe that's why it thought the display mode was not compatible!
So if that’s the problem, the fix is simple: Force VAM to use DirectX11, and let AMD’s driver detect it.
→ Right-click on VaM (Desktop Mode).bat in the VAM root folder, choose “Edit”, and add -dx11 or -force-d3d11 to the end of the command line. Save it and double-click to launch VAM — boom, AFMF on and double the smoothness!
→ Open the AMD overlay and check the “Graphics API” field (can be turned on in performance monitor settings) — if it shows “DX11”, then it’s working. (Before this, mine was blank.)
[Troubleshooting]
– What if you have a 7000+series GPU, but the fix still doesn’t work?
→ That led me to a theory: maybe the X value marks the position of top-left corner of the overlay, and if the overlay itself is ~400px wide, then 3400+400 = 3800, which is already near the edge. Push past that, and the overlay might actually overflow the screen internally (even if it's clamped visually).
→ That might cause AMD to think the game is running in a weird “multi-monitor” mode — and block AFMF.
→ Once I restored the overlay to the default position and rebooted, AFMF started working again. I literally laughed out loud after solving this — spent over 20 hours figuring it out...
[Bonus: 9070XT Performance in VAM]
This card performs pretty well in VAM.
[Bonus: AFMF + SteamVR Smooth Motion]
I also tested running AFMF together with SteamVR’s Smooth Motion — and the result is a 3x or even 4x framerate boost visually. Of course, it comes with some compromises in quality and may stutter more, but the smoothness is impressive.
→ This trick is best used when your raw framerate is only 1/3 to 1/4 of your headset’s refresh rate.
→ If your game is already at 1/2 refresh rate, just stick with AFMF and don’t turn on Smooth Motion.
At last, AFMF may just be the “finally to come fluid motion enhancer” that works in VR — awesome for those of us using mid-range GPUs in demanding VR scenes.
(Some other users also reported Nvidia 50-series' Smooth Motion feature works in VAM VR too, but only works with DP/cable-linked VR headsets just like AFMF. Worth testing if you have one!)
FYI
Just bought the new AMD 9070XT last week (upgrading from 3090) , and couldn't wait to test the AFMF2.1 feature.
But as a result, AFMF didn’t work in VAM. The overlay in the top-right corner said AFMF "not compatible with the game's display mode", and stayed inactive.
- Notes:
- AFMF (AMD Fluid Motion Frames) is AMD’s driver-level frame generation technology. While it can only do 2X framegen, the performance cost seems lower than tools like Lossless Scaling, and it even works in VR — which maybe a game changer for regular VAM VR mode user.
- According to AMD’s official docs, only 7000 series GPUs (like the 7900XT) and above support AFMF in borderless fullscreen mode — 6000 series cards require exclusive fullscreen, which likely won’t work with VAM, and older cards aren’t supported at all.
- From some community reports, AFMF seems to work only with DP/cable linked VR headsets, and not with Wi-Fi streaming headsets using Virtual Desktop — in those cases, the generated frames may be applied to the Virtual Desktop window, not the actual VR headset.
[The Fix]
After a ton of testing and research, I finally figured out the problem:
AMD Adrenalin Software seemed not correctly detecting VAM’s API as DirectX11 — and maybe that's why it thought the display mode was not compatible!
So if that’s the problem, the fix is simple: Force VAM to use DirectX11, and let AMD’s driver detect it.
→ Right-click on VaM (Desktop Mode).bat in the VAM root folder, choose “Edit”, and add -dx11 or -force-d3d11 to the end of the command line. Save it and double-click to launch VAM — boom, AFMF on and double the smoothness!
→ Open the AMD overlay and check the “Graphics API” field (can be turned on in performance monitor settings) — if it shows “DX11”, then it’s working. (Before this, mine was blank.)
[Troubleshooting]
– What if you have a 7000+series GPU, but the fix still doesn’t work?
- Have you ever customized the AMD overlay position?
→ If yes, try resetting it to default (top right corner) and reboot. That will probably fix it!
→ I know it sounds silly… but seriously, changing the overlay position broke AFMF for me. Here’s how I found out: I moved the overlay away from the top right to avoid overlapping VAM’s own perf monitor. After that, AFMF stopped working — and even made the framerate drop by over 20% when the overlay was open.
→ That led me to a theory: maybe the X value marks the position of top-left corner of the overlay, and if the overlay itself is ~400px wide, then 3400+400 = 3800, which is already near the edge. Push past that, and the overlay might actually overflow the screen internally (even if it's clamped visually).
→ That might cause AMD to think the game is running in a weird “multi-monitor” mode — and block AFMF.
→ Once I restored the overlay to the default position and rebooted, AFMF started working again. I literally laughed out loud after solving this — spent over 20 hours figuring it out...
- If you want a custom overlay position, leave some padding on the right side . Don’t max out the X coordinate (maybe at a value less than 3300 for 4K screens)
- Still not working?
→ Try reinstalling the AMD Adrenalin software, and be sure to check "Factory Reset" during the process. Then reboot. That fixed it for me once. - Still stuck?
→ Go to the Adrenalin settings (gear icon top-right), assign a custom hotkey for AFMF, and try enabling it via hotkey in-game (ChatGPT’s suggestion — helped in some games). - AFMF worked before, but broke after reboot?
→ Go to your VAM game profile in Adrenalin, turn off Radeon Anti-Lag (it often turns on automatically with AFMF), and reset the “Game Experience” settings from Custom back to Default. Reboot — and AFMF should work again.
→ Another weird AMD bug…
[Bonus: 9070XT Performance in VAM]
This card performs pretty well in VAM.
- 【EDITED】
In solo character MMD scenes, it’s almost 70% faster than my old 3090 (maybe near the mighty 4090, which outperform 3090 by about 70% in AAA games). Dual characters scenes run about 66% faster, and three characters scenes about 50% faster.- 【Did some more precise tests】The 9070XT brings a pretty well uplift from my old 3090, of 20%~55% with maximun pixel lights (Heavily depends on the Scene and may differ a lot),
- It can fully utilize my HP Reverb G2 at 90Hz(@ about 6000x3000 res ). With AFMF enabled, even 3-character scenes can hit 90Hz (may need to turn down MSAA level).
→ Honestly, I bought this card just as a temporary upgrade until the 5090 price drops, but now I’m not so sure. If you can buy one with MSRP, it maybe a insanely good value. Very happy. - (Although, still strange enough, despiting the REAL Performance boost in VAM, the benchmark results of 9070XT, like the CPU benchmark, were almost just the same with 3090, sometimes even worse... )
[Bonus: AFMF + SteamVR Smooth Motion]
I also tested running AFMF together with SteamVR’s Smooth Motion — and the result is a 3x or even 4x framerate boost visually. Of course, it comes with some compromises in quality and may stutter more, but the smoothness is impressive.
→ This trick is best used when your raw framerate is only 1/3 to 1/4 of your headset’s refresh rate.
→ If your game is already at 1/2 refresh rate, just stick with AFMF and don’t turn on Smooth Motion.
At last, AFMF may just be the “finally to come fluid motion enhancer” that works in VR — awesome for those of us using mid-range GPUs in demanding VR scenes.
(Some other users also reported Nvidia 50-series' Smooth Motion feature works in VAM VR too, but only works with DP/cable-linked VR headsets just like AFMF. Worth testing if you have one!)
FYI
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