what are quincex and 8x anisotropic filtering etc and how do i run them in games

[acidvoodoo]

ok, i just ordered a new computer (athlon 1900 xp, 512mb ddr, 8500, 19" monitor) and i hear all this talk about these features. i know what anti aliasing is, but not the others. can anyone tell me what they do and how do i enable them (include AA) in games?. if the game supports it will it have an option, in, er options to enable it? or do i have to go to the cards like tool thingy and enable it there (meaning it would be enabled for every game).
what would be the best combination of these without killing fps (at least over 50 fps ) is it better to run at highest res like 1600x1200, or at a lower res with these features on?

 

[zimmie6576]

From what I have seen, the higher your resolution, the less you need anti-aliasing (AA), if you need it at all (IMHO). I see that you know what AA is, and must have seen it, so I won't bother explaining it. Quincunx is an Nvidia only AA mode, it basically gives around 4xAA quality, while suffering only about a 2xAA performance hit (after looking at benchmarks, this appears to be true).

Look here for an explanation of anisotropic filtering.

Both AA and anisotropic filtering have to be turned on in the video cards configuration (not with a special tool, just with the tabs added to your Display -> Settings -> Advanced area), which would mean on for all games. I have seen some games that have an option to enable it, but from what I can tell, it won't be enabled in the game if not enabled in the system itself (in display properties). Though a could be wrong.

 

[rainypickles]

i tried noaa, 2x, 4x and quincunx in the 3dmark2k1 image quality tests, and i would say that quincunx looks more or less exactly like 2x. 4x is definitely the best picture, but 2x and quincunx are equivalent image wise. but maybe its just 3dmark.