Let's talk AA modes for my 5870.

[SlowSpyder]

I generally choose my AA mode in-game, I just leave whatever the default is and usually run 4xAA. I choose 4xAA as I can see an IQ improvement over 2xAA, 8xAA doesn't look dramatically better to me than 4xAA.

But, I've never really bothered with trying the different modes that are selectable in Catalyst Control Center. In CCC I have the options for Box, Narrow-Tent, Wide-Tent, and Edge-Detect. The default is Box. Can anyone give me a run down on what the differences are? Is one significantly better than the others? Performance differences? What do you use and why? My guess (and just a guess) is that the different modes may affect what AA is applied to on screen (or how it is applied), but I could be completely off on that.

My next question is in the AAMode tab I have a slider to choose three different options for AA modes. I have Multi-sample AA on the performance side of the slider. I have Adaptive Multi-sample AA in the middle. And lastly there is Super-sample AA on the quality side of the slider. I remember SSAA being a big deal when AMD launched the 5870, but I just don't know too much about it or the other modes. Again, an explanation would be very, very appreciated.

Also, if I use a different mode, I'm curious to know how it compares to other modes with different levels selected. For example, does 4xMSAA look as good as 2xSSAA? Or does no level of MSAA approach what any level of SSAA can do?

In the past I never really bothered too much with AA, so my knowledge is fairly limited. Now that I have this 5870 dialed in I'd really like to educate myself on some of it's abilities and try them out.

Right now most of my playing time is devoted to Age of Conan. I also just picked up Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age also came with a free download of Mass Effect 2 and my 5870 came with Dirt 2. I'll probably check those out as well. Lastly, I play a lot of older games yet, I like Neverwinter Nights, I still plan on getting into NWN2 (I have yet to finish it), I have The Witcher sitting on my shelf waiting for my attention, I love the HOMM series - especially HOMM5, and I also play Titan Quest, Torchlight from time to time. I'm not sure if different AA modes may look better on different types of games, as you can see I mainly like RPG's and strategy games.

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[Phynaz]

BFG10K has an excellent tutorial on ATI anti-aliasing.

It's not in his sig anymore, but you should be able to Google it.

 

[BD231]

The down side to AA via CCC is that its forced on every object in a frame, which results in a noticeable (for me) performance loss. I've avoided it for the most part, but use it on older titles or games without an AA option.

 

[Voo]

BFG10K has an excellent tutorial on ATI anti-aliasing.

It's not in his sig anymore, but you should be able to Google it.

Not sure about what article you're talking in particular, but I found this one http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=12648 and the ones linked on the first page rather interesting and helpful - though if anyone knows another one I'm always interested as well.

 

[BFG10K]

Not sure about what article you're talking in particular, but I found this one http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=12648 and the ones linked on the first page rather interesting and helpful - though if anyone knows another one I'm always interested as well.

Yep, that ATi 5000 series piece has the 4000 series piece linked on its first page. The two articles should answer most of the OP’s questions. If there are any more, I’ll answer them in this thread.