What is super sampling and why is it so intensive?

[bulldog0890]

I'm using a gtx 780 and core i7 with windows 7 64bit

I found that at max settings and 4x super sampling (1920x1080), i get an average fps of around 55, with it dipping into the 40's and a min of around 30 in areas with a lot of particle or lighting effects. especially bad in that rocket factory level when stuff is blowing up

at 2.25x super sampling or with it off I get a stable 60fps all the time though, and things don't look too notably worse. though super sampling really does make it look better

i'm just wondering what exactly its doing to make the image better, and why at 4x its such a performance hit

[triplanesubs739]

Sounds like your trying to get too much graphics,with not the right system.Super sampling REQUIRES- a motherboard with a PC 3 video socket,and at least one ,or better yet TWO 2 gig video graphic cards in SLI configuration with a minimum 6 gig flow rate from the HD to the graphics cards, to the display.

[Plaid]

Super Sampling works by first rendering the entire scene at a higher resolution and then shrinking it to fit your display.
So, at 4x Super Sampling, you are essentially tasking the video card to render the game at 7680x4320 (or something like that).

I don't recommend it for most people. MSAA is good for me, with a bit of FXAA in the case of a lot of alpha textures.