720p with 2X MSAA or 768p with FXAA?

[Scorvian]

Its hard for me to decide if the game looks better at 720p with MSAA or 768p with FXAA. other settings are at max DX9 settings

[AlfaGSW]

2X MSAA = FXAA ，nearly ！

[Anders]

FXAA blurs the textures. i would go with 2x MSAA and 720p (because there is NO diffrerence between 720p and 768p you peasant)

[NotApplicable]

The first one, technically, should be better. FXAA is a simple, cheap method of anti-aliasing, yet with 768 being only a small amount better of a resolution, you even get decent MSAA, albeit only 2x. Performance is something else, though. I couldn't say for sure which would use more, but I would guess the former, since MSAA takes more than a simple FXAA. I suppose it could depend on your graphics card/unit.

引用自 SmartAndy_s：

FXAA blurs the textures. i would go with 2x MSAA and 720p (because there is NO diffrerence between 720p and 768p you peasant)

One, that was needlessly rude and childish. Two, there is a difference. 720p is 1280x720 and 768p is 1366x768. Clearly one number is higher than the other. Here is a link where some other people discuss this thanks to silly marketing:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/why-is-1366x768-called-720p-not-768p.627918/

引用自 WilliamGou：

2X MSAA = FXAA ，nearly ！:batarang:

There are some interesting posts http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2255041 <-- in that link that you might find.. well, interesting. xD

[Dylan]

2x MSAA is widely considered as better.

[Memph]

引用自 Spackeck Ittee：

2x MSAA is widely considered as better.

It isn't and I'll explain why.

MSAA is not only expensive, but does absolutely nothing to aliasing on transparencies and any 2D objects (like chain-link fences). 2x is also quite pitiful on geometry, particularly at low resolutions, where FXAA (on high) can easily match 4xMSAA, or 8xCSAA for results at FAR less performance (which can go into other settings instead).

To eliminate all aliasing, you either need to downsample, or force supersampling, or a combination (at a massive performance cost ofc).

Yes, there is slight blurring on textures with FXAA, but if you're not cranking the resolution in the first place, it's hardly noticible, particularly when a scene is in motion. Whereas 2xMSAA will have edge-crawl on every power-line, fence, etc... plus shimmering on objects like lamp-posts as you move around.

I like to force MSAA with Sparse-Grid Supersampling wherever possible, so I'm not a big fan of FXAA tbh, but I'm finding when games have HQ FXAA (like AC does) it's perfectly fine. Particularly when the game is performance hungry already (like AC is).

It'll always come down to personal preference though. The choice is really down to which you notice, or what irritates you the most - aliasing or impaired texture clarity. For me, 2x MSAA just doesn't cut the mustard, when even on 4x, it still needs supersampling forced at driver-level to back it up.

Here's a article with some direct comparison images:
http://www.geforce.co.uk/whats-new/guides/batman-arkham-city-graphics-breakdown-and-performance-guide#2
Granted, it's an Nvidia article. Still, the pics don't lie. I could snap and upload the exact same images.

[Scorvian]

引用自 Memph：

引用自 Spackeck Ittee：

2x MSAA is widely considered as better.

It isn't and I'll explain why.

MSAA is not only expensive, but does absolutely nothing to aliasing on transparencies and any 2D objects (like chain-link fences). 2x is also quite pitiful on geometry, particularly at low resolutions, where FXAA (on high) can easily match 4xMSAA, or 8xCSAA for results at FAR less performance (which can go into other settings instead).

To eliminate all aliasing, you either need to downsample, or force supersampling, or a combination (at a massive performance cost ofc).

Yes, there is slight blurring on textures with FXAA, but if you're not cranking the resolution in the first place, it's hardly noticible, particularly when a scene is in motion. Whereas 2xMSAA will have edge-crawl on every power-line, fence, etc... plus shimmering on objects like lamp-posts as you move around.

I like to force MSAA with Sparse-Grid Supersampling wherever possible, so I'm not a big fan of FXAA tbh, but I'm finding when games have HQ FXAA (like AC does) it's perfectly fine. Particularly when the game is performance hungry already (like AC is).

It'll always come down to personal preference though. The choice is really down to which you notice, or what irritates you the most - aliasing or impaired texture clarity. For me, 2x MSAA just doesn't cut the mustard, when even on 4x, it still needs supersampling forced at driver-level to back it up.

Here's a article with some direct comparison images:
http://www.geforce.co.uk/whats-new/guides/batman-arkham-city-graphics-breakdown-and-performance-guide#2
Granted, it's an Nvidia article. Still, the pics don't lie. I could snap and upload the exact same images.

this makes sence. In some games 2XMSAA does a decent job at getting rid of jaggies but in other games jaggies can still be seen where as FXAA can have move coverage. one thing i like to do in games if they support this, is combine MSAA and FXAA. The image is normally pretty good

[Dylan]

引用自 Memph：

引用自 Spackeck Ittee：

2x MSAA is widely considered as better.

It isn't and I'll explain why.

MSAA is not only expensive, but does absolutely nothing to aliasing on transparencies and any 2D objects (like chain-link fences). 2x is also quite pitiful on geometry, particularly at low resolutions, where FXAA (on high) can easily match 4xMSAA, or 8xCSAA for results at FAR less performance (which can go into other settings instead).

To eliminate all aliasing, you either need to downsample, or force supersampling, or a combination (at a massive performance cost ofc).

Yes, there is slight blurring on textures with FXAA, but if you're not cranking the resolution in the first place, it's hardly noticible, particularly when a scene is in motion. Whereas 2xMSAA will have edge-crawl on every power-line, fence, etc... plus shimmering on objects like lamp-posts as you move around.

I like to force MSAA with Sparse-Grid Supersampling wherever possible, so I'm not a big fan of FXAA tbh, but I'm finding when games have HQ FXAA (like AC does) it's perfectly fine. Particularly when the game is performance hungry already (like AC is).

It'll always come down to personal preference though. The choice is really down to which you notice, or what irritates you the most - aliasing or impaired texture clarity. For me, 2x MSAA just doesn't cut the mustard, when even on 4x, it still needs supersampling forced at driver-level to back it up.

Here's a article with some direct comparison images:
http://www.geforce.co.uk/whats-new/guides/batman-arkham-city-graphics-breakdown-and-performance-guide#2
Granted, it's an Nvidia article. Still, the pics don't lie. I could snap and upload the exact same images.

Well, that was enlightening. Thanks for the information, I'll be sure to make a more informed post next time.

[Memph]

引用自 Spackeck Ittee：

Well, that was enlightening. Thanks for the information, I'll be sure to make a more informed post next time.

You're welcome. Thanks for reading all the blabber :)
I only happened across the article last night, as I've been fiddling quite a while to find a nice balance for quality on my 770, which only has 2gb. Admittedly, I've settled for FXAA in this case.

引用自 ATLEAGLE579：

this makes sence. In some games 2XMSAA does a decent job at getting rid of jaggies but in other games jaggies can still be seen where as FXAA can have move coverage. one thing i like to do in games if they support this, is combine MSAA and FXAA. The image is normally pretty good

Indeed, combining the two can give very nice results, with MSAA handling geometry and FXAA tidying up the transparencies. Although, I can see why some would stick with MSAA, if a rig has the grunt to run ultra 4k textures at high resolution, FXAA's blurring could really stand-out.

On an Nvidia card, it can also be worth trying DSR. You can run the game at a higher resolution, scaled down to your monitor's native res - even combining that with other forms of AA. Although, that can come with it's own problems, like a tiny steam overlay, or unreadable text and UI in games. I have some Darksiders 2 screens uploaded that show some combinations of AA.

Again, it's preference though. Jaggies and edge crawl just ruin immersion for me and I'll happily do away with stuff like ambient occlusion and suffer some downscaling of graphical fidelity to get rid of them.

[Scorvian]

引用自 Memph：

引用自 Spackeck Ittee：

Well, that was enlightening. Thanks for the information, I'll be sure to make a more informed post next time.

You're welcome. Thanks for reading all the blabber :)
I only happened across the article last night, as I've been fiddling quite a while to find a nice balance for quality on my 770, which only has 2gb. Admittedly, I've settled for FXAA in this case.

引用自 ATLEAGLE579：

this makes sence. In some games 2XMSAA does a decent job at getting rid of jaggies but in other games jaggies can still be seen where as FXAA can have move coverage. one thing i like to do in games if they support this, is combine MSAA and FXAA. The image is normally pretty good

Indeed, combining the two can give very nice results, with MSAA handling geometry and FXAA tidying up the transparencies. Although, I can see why some would stick with MSAA, if a rig has the grunt to run ultra 4k textures at high resolution, FXAA's blurring could really stand-out.

On an Nvidia card, it can also be worth trying DSR. You can run the game at a higher resolution, scaled down to your monitor's native res - even combining that with other forms of AA. Although, that can come with it's own problems, like a tiny steam overlay, or unreadable text and UI in games. I have some Darksiders 2 screens uploaded that show some combinations of AA.

Again, it's preference though. Jaggies and edge crawl just ruin immersion for me and I'll happily do away with stuff like ambient occlusion and suffer some downscaling of graphical fidelity to get rid of them.

what's your thoughts on other types of AA such as TXAA, EQAA,MLAA,SSAA,SMAA,MFAA,FSAA or temporal AA?

[Memph]

引用自 ATLEAGLE579：

what's your thoughts on other types of AA such as TXAA, EQAA,MLAA,SSAA,SMAA,MFAA,FSAA or temporal AA?

Except for MLAA, which Chivalry uses (and has quite horrible shimmering), I honestly couldn't say. I don't use injectors, like GeDoSaTo, due to fear of being flagged on VAC games.

Usually forcing SGSSAA via Inspector does the job, even at 2x, combined with FXAA if necessary. Failing that, DSR. Straight-up Supersampling is often too rescource hungry to be viable in newer titles. 4x SSAA on Metro for instance, cripples my rig on high settings.

Here's a handy list of AA flags for inspector, if it's any use to you: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AnHpuYHx21sjdENRSHg1ZkhndWF5R05tQjhCbTFNUVE&output=html

I'm hoping TXAA comes to earlier Nvidia cards - else I'll upgrade once the price of 900 series cards drops.

[Scorvian]

When games offer SMAA 80% of the time i go for that because it has similar performance to FXAA but looks really good.

[Memph]

Aye, I'll have to give it a go, if I can. Currently have AC at 2xSSGSA and it looks pretty good, holding up nicely at 60fps in DX9, with Phys-X on high (bar the odd crash on area loads).
I'm not aware of any games that actually have SMAA standard, without an injector. Assuming that's the ATI equivalent of FXAA, but doesn't have the blur filter.

edit: Though this article - http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/03/12/crysis_3_video_card_performance_iq_review/8#.VPPSqS7hCUk - does state SMAA has quite a performance hit at 4x, although even on low it's meant to have a good effect. Will do more research when I can be arsed.

[Scorvian]

引用自 Memph：

Aye, I'll have to give it a go, if I can. Currently have AC at 2xSSGSA and it looks pretty good, holding up nicely at 60fps in DX9, with Phys-X on high (bar the odd crash on area loads).
I'm not aware of any games that actually have SMAA standard, without an injector. Assuming that's the ATI equivalent of FXAA, but doesn't have the blur filter.

edit: Though this article - http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/03/12/crysis_3_video_card_performance_iq_review/8#.VPPSqS7hCUk - does state SMAA has quite a performance hit at 4x, although even on low it's meant to have a good effect. Will do more research when I can be arsed.

many games 2013 have SMAA in them. examples are crysis 3, dead space 3, alien isolation, assassin's creed 4 and unity, ryse son of rome etc....

[Memph]

引用自 ATLEAGLE579：

many games 2013 have SMAA in them. examples are crysis 3, dead space 3, alien isolation, assassin's creed 4 and unity, ryse son of rome etc....

Wow, that's news to me! I have none of those (typically I dislike Ubisoft games - which tend to mostly be the same game, with more collectathon guff shoehorned in and they don't bother at all with Steam feature integration and I'm somewhat of a completion ♥♥♥♥♥). I will definitely try an injector though, when SSGSA fails me for performance or compatibility. Alien Isolation is one on my hitlist, despite it guaranteed to scare scare the crap outta me. Thanks for the heads up!

[Scorvian]

引用自 Memph：

引用自 ATLEAGLE579：

many games 2013 have SMAA in them. examples are crysis 3, dead space 3, alien isolation, assassin's creed 4 and unity, ryse son of rome etc....

Wow, that's news to me! I have none of those (typically I dislike Ubisoft games - which tend to mostly be the same game, with more collectathon guff shoehorned in and they don't bother at all with Steam feature integration and I'm somewhat of a completion ♥♥♥♥♥). I will definitely try an injector though, when SSGSA fails me for performance or compatibility. Alien Isolation is one on my hitlist, despite it guaranteed to scare scare the crap outta me. Thanks for the heads up!

np. just keep a look out since from my understanding many next gen games have SMAA support.