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    Anti-aliasing and the Radeon 4870

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by SpinalGT, Feb 12, 2010.

  1. SpinalGT

    SpinalGT Notebook Consultant

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    So, I once had a M17x-R1 with two Geforce GTX 260M SLI and I remember playing L4D2 with everything maxed and I had an option Anti-aliasing 16xQ CSAA.
    Played smoothly with 50-70 fps

    Now, with the R2, with two Radeon 4870 Crossfire the maximum settings for AA are 8x MSAA, and my fps varying between 45-60...

    Is this correct?

    Why the Radeon cards doesn't show the options for anti-aliasing like the Nvidia?
     
    SpinalGT, Feb 12, 2010
    #1
  2. Kade Storm

    Kade Storm The Devil's Advocate

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    Because CSAA and Q are explicitly Nvidia features.

    However, you do have the benefit of very good antialiasing and shaders with those ATi cards. You shouldn't even need anything more than 2xAA at 1200p resolution. Besides, 8xMSAA is excellent overkill.
     
    Kade Storm, Feb 12, 2010
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  3. hazardic

    hazardic Notebook Consultant

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    hazardic, Feb 12, 2010
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  4. Kade Storm

    Kade Storm The Devil's Advocate

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    That is an ancient link from a time when QSAA and CSAA didn't even exist.

    Anyway, back to the present. . . ATi offers better performance for MSAA, striaght up. Nvidia has CSAA which is implemented using half the samples, but preserving performance headroom. They also have QSAA, which is more performance intensive.
     
    Kade Storm, Feb 12, 2010
    #4
  5. ZenithNoesis

    ZenithNoesis Notebook Evangelist

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    4x MSAA is plenty. 2x will suffice to boost framerates when needed.
     
    ZenithNoesis, Feb 12, 2010
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  6. Terminal42

    Terminal42 Notebook Evangelist

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    Whats the C in CSAA and Q in QSAA stand for again?
     
    Terminal42, Feb 12, 2010
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  7. Diablo

    Diablo Metalhead

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    Diablo, Feb 12, 2010
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