High Res VS FSAA

[eaadams]

So my LCD is native at 1600 x 1200. So I tend to think that I should allways try to push up resolution rather than lower the resolution and add FSAA and the like. What do you think? How is performance hit if we compare lower res with FSAA and high res w/o. What about visual quality what is better?

 

[AdamK47]

It must be expensive having a 20+" LCD.

 

[eaadams]

no, dell rebates and deals made it almost 1/2 price 6 months ago.

 

[eaadams]

however it is probably the reason why I have a 2+ ghz rig and no vid card but onboard the mobo

 

[Spicedaddy]

I like higher res. better, especially if I had an LCD.

If you can't run 1600x1200, use 800x600.

 

[mrman3k]

Don't run any resolution on an LCD other than that of the native resolution otherwise you will get a distorted image. Instead I would save up and get a R9700 when it drops in price to about $200, or whatever the GFFX equivalent will be if it is more powerful. That will allow you to run 1600X1200 with max AA and anistotropic filtering.

 

[Spicedaddy]

Originally posted by: mrman3k
Don't run any resolution on an LCD other than that of the native resolution otherwise you will get a distorted image. Instead I would save up and get a R9700 when it drops in price to about $200, or whatever the GFFX equivalent will be if it is more powerful. That will allow you to run 1600X1200 with max AA and anistotropic filtering.

If you use 800x600 on a screen that's 1600x1200 native, there won't be any distortion. (4 pixels will form 1 pixel)

 

[BFG10K]

On a general note, always use high resolution over FSAA because it corrects all issues that FSAA corrects but it also sharpens the image at the same time and increases the rendering accuracy at long distances.

On a specific note, I highly recommend CRTs over LCDs. You can buy a big CRT at half the price of the same sized LCD plus you get better colours, refresh rates and the ability to run at whatever resolution you please with no image distortions (assuming that you stick to a 3:4 ratio of course).

 

[eaadams]

use high resolution over FSAA because it corrects all issues that FSAA corrects but it also sharpens the image at the same time and increases the rendering accuracy at long distances

so at a higher resolution you dont need FSAA. So then what I am concerned with is at what speed it runs at 1600x1200 w/o anything extra! thanks

 

[eaadams]

what about 16x anisotropic filtering? what does that do? exp taking into mind 1600x1200

 

[Alkali]

Anistropic filtering alllows the textures to be seen clearly all the way into the distance (at best). Without AF, the textures are blurry. High res doesnt solve this issue at all.

As a side note, you get far more edge precison with FSAA than with just upping the res. 6xFSAA does a magnificent job compared to a paltry 1600x1200 resolution, which has jaggies all over the shop.

 

[glugglug]

IMO FSAA makes the image look worse, at the expense of processing power, so its a no brainer to always leave it off regardless of resolution.

YMMV.

P.S. If your monitor cost half the price of a same-sized LCD you got ripped off. CRTs cost less than 1/3 the price of LCDs, and thats for good ones.

 

[kylebisme]

i think fsaa very nice espesialy at high rez and af is even beter.

 

[Dulanic]

I prefer higher res over FSAA, however I dont like over 1280x1024 on a 17" monitor I have so in alot of stuff Ill run 1280x1024 with 2X FSAA and 4X AF. It does make thinks look better. I mainly play Dark Age of Camelot, and with that I noticed Quincunx blurs things like text, so I quickly changed to 2X FSAA /w Texture Sharpening enabled and things look VERY nice. However an expansion pack just came out with new graphics and the first thing I did was turn off FSAA because the performance wasnt good enough for me... still looks great. So Id take high res /w AF filtering over a lower res /w FSAA and AF.

 

[Lonyo]

FSAA can blur textures a bit, meaning you almost HAVE to use AF to get a decent image in terms of texture clarity. Use higher res as it's probably less on a performance hit (on some cards) than FSAA is. Newer cards have less of a hit than before with FSAA but it's still a hit plus, the extra hit of AF may make it even slower, and you'll probably need AF if you use AA to get texture quality back up.

 

[BD2003]

Most newer cards can perform 4xAA at 800x600 faster than 1600x1200 w no AA. In other words, AA is faster for the image quality you get.

Personally, I go for Quincunx AA at 1024x768.

 

[Bovinicus]

I always try to keep the resolution in my games the same as the resolution on my desktop. That way I can switch out of the game without problems. As well, games open and close faster. If that resolution does not stress my card, then I will add FSAA if it can be handled. However, with onboard video, you might have some trouble reaching 100x1200 in a lot of games.

 

[BFG10K]

what about 16x anisotropic filtering? what does that do? exp taking into mind 1600x1200

In technical terms it reduces distortions on high-angled polygons by using texel sampling.
In practical terms it makes everything look sharp, especially at long ranges.

I don't even consider gaming without 16x anisotropic filtering enabled.

High res doesnt solve this issue at all.

High resolution sharpens the image too and it can also help in a similar way as anisotropic filtering does if the textures are of a higher detail than the resolution being used.

think fsaa very nice espesialy at high rez

I disagree. FSAA just wastes resources in high resolution situations because it's not really needed.

 

[kylebisme]

well BFG10K, in older games not useing fsaa would be the waste.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

I don't know how anyone can stand FSAA. Yes it smoothes out jaggies, but it does this by blurring the image. Blurred textures = no. Didn't the Nintendo 64 have edge antialiasing?

 

[JellyBaby]

I've played with FSAA over the years and every time I've wound up dumping it. Either performance was poor, side-effects appeared or it simply looked bad.

 

[glugglug]

I have to agree with the last 2 posters. Anti-alaising makes images look worse. If you really want an anti-alaised image with no performance penalty just get one of those smoked glass bathroom windows and put it in front of your screen.

 

[Bovinicus]

Super-Sampling doesn't really degrade the textures of the image too much. Multi-Sampling does, but in combination with Triliear filtering and Anisotropic filtering the effect is hardly noticeable.

 

[kylebisme]

i agree Bovinicus, and i have always found the jaged edges distracting so fsaa is a very plesent thing for me.

 

[BlvdKing]

I use quincunx FSAA + 2x AF. It makes things slightly blury but at the same time I think it softens the image. I turn it off when the game is too intensive though.