shaps4 -The Last Guardian - Possible RDNA 4 (RX 9070 XT) Vulkan Rendering Issue: Heavy Image Noise/Flickering

Checklist

• I have searched for a similar issue in this repository and did not find one.
• I am using an official build obtained from releases or updated one of those builds using its in-app updater.

Describe the Bug

The Last Guardian - Possible compatibility issue with AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT (RDNA 4) causing image noise/flickering

Description

Hello!

I'd like to report a possible compatibility issue between ShadPS4 and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT (RDNA 4) while running The Last Guardian.

System Configuration Operating System: Windows 11 CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D GPU: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Memory: 32 GB DDR5 Graphics API: Vulkan Emulator: ShadPS4 Pre-release Nightly 16.1 WP Problem

The game starts normally, but within the first few seconds of rendering, the entire image becomes covered with heavy static, image noise, or flickering, and this persists throughout the entire gameplay.

Older versions of ShadPS4 also suffered from an overexposed brightness issue, but this was fixed in Pre-release Nightly 16.1 WP.

However, even after that fix, the image noise/flickering still remains.

Very Important Comparison

I performed the exact same test using the integrated GPU of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

Ryzen 7 7800X3D Integrated GPU

✅ No overexposed brightness.

✅ No image noise.

✅ Correct rendering.

✅ The game runs normally.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT

❌ Heavy image noise/flickering appears immediately.

✅ The overexposed brightness issue was fixed only in Nightly 16.1 WP.

❌ The image noise/flickering remains.

Since everything else on the system is identical (Windows installation, drivers, emulator configuration, and game files), the only variable changed is the GPU.

This strongly suggests that the issue may be related specifically to the Vulkan rendering path used by the RX 9070 XT (RDNA 4).

Tests Performed

Over the course of several days, I performed many different tests, including:

Multiple ShadPS4 versions: 10.x 12.x 15.x 16.1 Pre-release Nightly 16.1 WP Installing different Vulkan SDK versions. Validation Layers enabled and disabled. Shader Cache cleared. Pipeline Cache cleared. Multiple user_config configurations. Readback option testing. Resolution patches. Different graphics settings.

None of these tests eliminated the image noise/flickering.

The only improvement observed was that Nightly 16.1 WP fixed the overexposed brightness issue.

Additional Observation

The Vulkan tools consistently display the following message:

BC5SnormBlock

I'm not sure whether this message is only informational or if it could be related to the rendering issue.

Hypothesis

Since the Ryzen 7 7800X3D integrated GPU renders the game correctly while the RX 9070 XT consistently shows this issue, I believe there may be a compatibility problem between ShadPS4 and the RDNA 4 architecture, possibly related to the Vulkan renderer or texture handling.

Questions

Is this behavior already known by the developers?

Is there an experimental build, patch, or testing branch specifically intended for RDNA 4 GPUs?

If additional testing, logs, or debug builds are needed, I would be happy to help.

Thank you very much for all your hard work developing ShadPS4.

Attached Files shad_log.txt user_config.toml Screenshot showing the rendering issue. Vulkan Configurator screenshot.

Reproduction Steps

1. Launch ShadPS4 Pre-release Nightly 16.1 WP.
2. Start The Last Guardian.
3. Wait until the game begins rendering.
4. Heavy image noise/flickering appears immediately and persists throughout gameplay.
5. Repeat the same test using the Ryzen 7 7800X3D integrated GPU. The issue does not occur.

Expected Behavior

The game should render correctly on the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT without image noise or flickering, just as it does on the Ryzen 7 7800X3D integrated GPU.

Specify OS Version

Windows 11 Pro 25H2

CPU

Ryzen 7 7800X3D

GPU

RX 9070 XT 16GB

Amount of RAM in GB

32GB

Log File