ATI Catalyst AI....on or off?

[fern420]

ok, can someone give me a proper rundown on AI. i am aware that basically its preset graphics settings for each individual game. my question is, is the catalyst "smart" or all preset. does it know what video cards i have and adjust the detail level accordingly per game?

my question is with these two new 2900 cards in crossfire i have a few new AA settings and i just want to make sure i can actually enjoy them in their true form. should i always have the AI turned off? how do i know when its best to trust ATI's choice on game settings over mine? im asking because when i run these two 2900's in crossfire im wondering whats the cut off ati determined, can i get 10x aa in a specific game with the AI on or will it only allow me 4 because ati thinks thats best or that game?

dont get me wrong it just looks sick when i set the cat to 16x AA and 16xAF and adaptive AA and temporal AA but im just curious as to how many of those setting i chose the AI is really giving me. i think that temporal AA is truly working with the AI turned on because my vertical refresh rate seems to be turned on even though i have it set to off all the time and i always used this as a key to notice when adaptive AA was really working because when adaptive AA is on it always seem to force the vertical refresh rate.

id just like to know the consensus on weather one should turn AI on or off.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Well, here's my take. Off the game runs good, on standard the game runs faster and has no noticable degredation in quality, on high the game is faster still but has again, no noticable degredation. This is only with certain games like Doom engine, UT engine etc. Generally it does what it says it does at least for me.

 

[Summitdrinker]

good question

I wonder how d3d pixel and vertex shader overdrive works and what affects it has too

 

[cmdrdredd]

it doesn't make the game look different to my eyes, but it bumps fps by a small amount.

 

[yacoub]

NOW THAT I HAVE QUAD R600s I'M NOT SURE IF I CAN SPARE THE FPS GUYS WHAT SHOULD I DO IM THINKING I MIGHT JUST SELL THEM AND GET OCTA-GTXs SO I CAN REALLY OC THE FPS OUT THE BACKSIDE OF THE BUS

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: yacoub
NOW THAT I HAVE QUAD R600s I'M NOT SURE IF I CAN SPARE THE FPS GUYS WHAT SHOULD I DO IM THINKING I MIGHT JUST SELL THEM AND GET OCTA-GTXs SO I CAN REALLY OC THE FPS OUT THE BACKSIDE OF THE BUS

If you're gonna post at least say something worth a damn.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I cant tell a difference either way on my x1950 Pro.

 

[soydios]

Originally posted by: yacoub
NOW THAT I HAVE QUAD R600s I'M NOT SURE IF I CAN SPARE THE FPS GUYS WHAT SHOULD I DO IM THINKING I MIGHT JUST SELL THEM AND GET OCTA-GTXs SO I CAN REALLY OC THE FPS OUT THE BACKSIDE OF THE BUS

12-year-old?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
I cant tell a difference either way on my x1950 Pro.

It could be the Vista drivers, but I get slight fps increase when I toggle it to advanced

 

[ronnn]

Should be at default. Will give the best IQ with best fps.

 

[Auric]

If I recall, Advanced uses more CPU so requires some consideration before enabling depending upon the system specs and demands of the game.

 

[BFG10K]

Generally it's best to leave it on standard and then adjust your AA per game as you please.

Cat AI doesn't really impact AA except to block it in games that don't support it like Halo.

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Generally it's best to leave it on standard and then adjust your AA per game as you please.

Cat AI doesn't really impact AA except to block it in games that don't support it like Halo.

Plus I think you need Cat AI if your using HDR+AA.

 

[fern420]

ive heard some conflicting reports that if you do not set the AI to advanced then you will not be utilizing the AFR (Alternate Frame Rendering mode) has anyone heard that? of course the ati website tells you about all the goodies, just not how to use them.

 

[Munky]

There's the standard mode and the advanced mode. Standard mode optimzes the performance without sacrificing IQ. Advanced mode may boost the fps even more at the expense of some IQ.