Anti-Aliasing + AF

[t1337Dude]

When I turn on Anti-Aliasing ingame, what is the amount? 2x? 4x? 6x?!

Also, when I do, it really swings around my FPS.

PC Gamer suggested it was a game problem and they reccomend to turn on AA via control panel. Would any of you reccomend this? How much of a performance hit is it?


Also - what about AF (texture filtering)? Does it impact FPS? Does it increase image quality?

Just a bunch of questions. Thanks.

[Killa John]

What do you have for a graphics card?

[t1337Dude]

XFX NVIDIA 7800GT. Core is overclocked but 85hz and memory by 150hz. Yes, it's stable and I have the cooling to compensate.

[Killa John]

You should be able to run some AA and AF. I always recommend making custom profiles in the nVIDIA control panel for games, it gives you much more control over the graphics settings that most games offer via their in-game options. AF probably won't help that much as I assume you're running TQ at a fairly high resolution, and it only makes a noticable difference in the lower resolutions I believe, but I may be wrong.

[t1337Dude]

Even 2x AA would make the game look twice as good. I'd almost rather take AA over graphical quality. AF set to atleast 4x allows distanced textures to look much more crisp and a LOT better. But all textures in TQ are differently sized and distanced compared to First Person Shooters that show off AF. AF definitely makes a difference in games such as HL2 and BF2.

Also, I was wondering how much AA was added through the ingame's anti-aliasing. Have any idea?

[skittleJunky]

From what I gather the AA is derived from what you have set in the NVIDIA control panel. Though I have tried 8xSLI on my 7900 PCI-E system, and the game gets choppy as hell, even at 1152x864 (which is a nice rez to play at). I use 2x AA and no AF and the game runs smooth as silk and looks great for me.

All settings in game turned to high.
AA - On
VSync - On
Fullscreen - On

Hope that helps you.

[markussun]

t1337Dude,

please read the bottom half of my post here:

http://vnboards.ign.com/Message.aspx?topic=97959927

In addition to what I wrote there, I would say that in your case, with a 7800GT, you wouldn't need to switch to 'performance' mode in your driver's 'Image settings', and you could also turn 'anisotropic mip filter optimization' to OFF, to enjoy better image quality.

Killa John mentioned custom profiles, which can make your life much easier when you have multiple games installed and don't want to switch driver options manually for each game every time. nV's included profile editor is rudimentary, awkward, and buggy on top of it.

I recommend you download (it's freeware) and try out the great nHancer utility. You can find it here:

http://www.nhancer.com/


It'll make your life configuring your drivers and games much easier.

-markussun

[Sontrois]

If you turn ON AA in the NVidia panel, should you turn it OFF in game? Which will it use first? Will it use both if they are both on?

[Killa John]

The settings in the Control Panel will override any in-game settings

[Sontrois]

The settings in the Control Panel will override any in-game settings

So turning on AA on Nvidia and off in game will use my Nvidia settings? Cool...I'm going to give it a shot. The in game AA just doesn't do it for me...doesn't really do ANYTHING for that matter (anything much anyway)