nVidia multi/super Sampling on an 8800GTX

[Fistandantilis]

OK so I got an 8800GTX and I have been really busy with school crap for the past few weeks and now I have some time to tool around with this card but I have a few questions:
what is the benefit of mutlisampling or supersampling, should I use one of them? how will this affect performance?

That is about it for now, I thought there were more questions but I cant remember them.

Thanks for alll the help.

Jawshuwa

 

[BFG10K]

what is the benefit of mutlisampling or supersampling,

Both are anti-aliasing modes which essentially smooth edges.

Multi-sampling works in OpenGL and Direct3D and it smoothes polygon edges.

Super-sampling (as in transparency AA) works in Direct3D games and smoothes transparent textures like vegetation and fences.

should I use one of them?

Absolutely - for a 8800 GTX I'd recommend a minimum of 4x or even 16x. As for trasnparency AA you'll need to experiment as it varies.

In general use TrSS in games with little/no vegetation while TrMS can be used when the game has a lot of vegetation.

how will this affect performance?

It varies according to the game but a 8800 GTX should have plenty of power to spare.

 

[Fistandantilis]

wow BFG10K, thanks for the thorough reply, sorry I havent replied back.
I am going to play around with the settings, I will let you know how I fair.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Cant speak for other games since WoW is the only one I play right now, but supersampling kills my FPS in WoW. I leave it on multi and really dont see a huge diff in IQ.

 

[BFG10K]

I leave it on multi and really dont see a huge diff in IQ.

Keep in mind that TrMS doesn't work in all games but when it does you should see a significant reduction in vegetation sparkle/shimmer with next to no performance hit.

 

[40sTheme]

They are not just TrAA modes; there are straight MS/SS modes such as 2xMS, 2xQMS, 4xMS, 1x1SS, 2x2SS, 1x2SS, 2x1SS, 4x4SS... the list goes on.

 

[BFG10K]

They are not just TrAA modes

Well yes, now there are but when this topic was posted the only form of super-sampling on the 8800 GTX was TrAA.