Higher Res. or Lower Res + AA/AF

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Nirad9er

2[H]4U
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Feb 18, 2004
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Which do you think is better to run games at? Which looks better you think?

Higher Res. + No AA/AF OR Lower Res + AA/AF
 
geez thats a tough one...i have that same dilemma, I can use my 32" HDTV to play at 1156x684(somthing like that) with all the AA and AF and soft shadows and crap turned up, or I can use my Dell 2005FPW @ 1680x1050 with no AA or AF. When I play I feel like I enjoy the 1680x1050 with no AA/AF than I do with 1156x684 with all the goodies.
 
Usually I like higher res, but ATM in CS:S I have been playing on a lower res with more AA/AF.
 
i would rather have the highest res allowed then have AA because a higher res makes the UI look better and not block as much of the screen.
 
Well, if you have an LCD, I think you'd want to run native res. That said, I think I'd buy a strong card and do high res+ AA/AF :D But if I had to pick, definetly higher resolution.
 
High resolution looks better, but its not really noticeable with high amount of anti-aliasing, also for some reason I think 1280x1024 on my lcd looks better then 1280x960 on my crt.

Hmph, I'm going to have to upgrade soon as my 6800GT is getting a little dated, but I'm planing on a upgrade sometime in march.
 
My monitor is my downfall. I am stuck at 1024x768 :( , so I just max out AA and HQAF to make up for it. I play all games 10x7 with full AA and HQAF and they look pretty enough.
 
AF is always a given for me. I'd rather run 1600x1200 with no AA than lower resolution with AA.
 
on the 7800 and 1800/1900 AF is basicly a free eye candy. effects performance by what, 1-2 FPS
 
well I always try and run at 1280x1024 on my LCD, and then turn the AA and AF on. If I can't turn it all on at native res, it is time for a new card!
 
Depends on the game. I'd rather play D3 engine games at higher res than lower with AA, however on the Source engine I'd rather drop a res and add a hit or 2 of AA.

-wil
 
contaminant said:
My monitor is my downfall. I am stuck at 1024x768 :( , so I just max out AA and HQAF to make up for it. I play all games 10x7 with full AA and HQAF and they look pretty enough.
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You have an Opteron 148 and an X850XT PE and you can't buy a used 19" CRT for $50-100...

That's... laziness.
 
Shimmering really bothers me for some reason, so if I had to choose between 1600x1200 no aa/af and 1280x960 4xaa/8xaa I'd definatley choose the later. Lucky I don't have to though, and run most of my games at 1600x1200 with aa/af. :)
 
I'd rather have the higher resolution.....but with most cards the AF really doesnt harm performance that much so you could have the AA lower while keepin the AF at a decent level
 
hmmm...this goes right along with my choice between monitors...

I have the x1900xt and Im looking at the 2005fpw at 1600x1050 or the sony xbrite 19" monitor at 1280x1024...

Which one do you think I should get w/ both at the same price?

Also, with that card probably oced and flashed (maybe) to the xtx, do you think i could run at 1600x1050 w/ aa + af cranked up with EXTREME eye candy? I love fear :D
 
for the most part, i'd rather have some sort of AF first. i can tolerate jaggies a tad bit more than i can mip mapping boundaries and muddy, blurry textures.
 
Dark_fire said:
on the 7800 and 1800/1900 AF is basicly a free eye candy. effects performance by what, 1-2 FPS
Click to expand...

LOL! Free with your purchase of a $500 card! hahah nice!

I do exactly 1280x1024 in any game (native res) and up the eye candy as much as my 6800 will allow.
 
I'm a fan of lower res + high AA/AF. To start with, on any modern card, at least 2xAA is basically 'free'...VERY minimal performance hit. And 4xAA isn't really that bad. The net result is that 1280x1024 with 4xAA usually runs faster than 1600x1200 with no AA. And the one looks MUCH better than the other.

As to the 'interface' question - I dunno, games that don't scale the interface properly is specifically WHY I prefer the lower res. At 1600x1200, the text is just SO damn small, and there is SO much of it, it looks like a friggin novel overlaid on the screen!
 
I can't run anything except 1680x1050... Can't stand the way it looks at non-native resolutions. I will make compromises with eye candy sometimes, but more often, I'll just try to have the fastest graphics setup I can afford.
 
Borgschulze said:
You have an Opteron 148 and an X850XT PE and you can't buy a used 19" CRT for $50-100...

That's... laziness.
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No, I'm just waiting. I need a new monitor, and when I get a new monitor it is going to be bigger than 19" :D
 
Zinn said:
I can't run anything except 1680x1050... Can't stand the way it looks at non-native resolutions. I will make compromises with eye candy sometimes, but more often, I'll just try to have the fastest graphics setup I can afford.
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Well, a potential solution is to get a smaller LCD.

I'm not a fan of running non-native, either, but just picked up a Sony X-BRITE LCD, and *holy crap* it's awesome looking! Only wish there was a manufacturer that did S-IPS panels with this type of tech instead of just sticking with TN panels for it. IPS has a noticeably superior range of colors, but WOW the colors the X-BRITE does display are breathtaking. Quality of display alone, I'm happier with this monitor than with the Dell 2005fpw. Plus, hey, lower res = higher FPS.
 
dderidex said:
Well, a potential solution is to get a smaller LCD.

I'm not a fan of running non-native, either, but just picked up a Sony X-BRITE LCD, and *holy crap* it's awesome looking! Only wish there was a manufacturer that did S-IPS panels with this type of tech instead of just sticking with TN panels for it. IPS has a noticeably superior range of colors, but WOW the colors the X-BRITE does display are breathtaking. Quality of display alone, I'm happier with this monitor than with the Dell 2005fpw. Plus, hey, lower res = higher FPS.
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I find the 2005fpw is barely large enough for the work I do... I might consider a second smaller monitor to play games and work on, but then there'd be no SLI for me.

Ugh whatever, I'm broke anyway so it's a moot point.
 
I'm extremely happy with the fact that my monitor's native resolution is 1280x1024, since that's perfectly achievable on my X850XT PE. Usually on max settings. :) I go for my native resolution and then adjust eyecandy accordingly.
 
does anyone think that the graphics becomes softer looking with AF turned on? I play F1 2001 and with AF turned on, all the shinny surfaces have gone dull and horrible.

i found this to be the case with other games too.

i'm using a 6800, if that has anything to do with it.
 
Once you get over 1024, resolution seems to start diminishing in returns, so I'd say 1280x1024 and then add AA rather than continue to increase resolution. But, it also depends on the monitor you're using, and I run AF on everything...
 
1280x960x32 is what I have used often in conjunction with AA and aniso of course. Higher res you still get more jaggies with say 1600x1200 2x then 1280x960x32 with 4x aa. That is on my 22". The larger monitor you have though the more geared towards running higher resolutions you get. I run with Fresnel and it give me dunno 32" perhaps and 2048x1532 is the res I really want to play with with that. AA is secondary in that case...

With my 22" I can hardly spot a difference between 1600x1200 and 2048x1532...
 
I run a 2405FPW and the native res is 1920x1200. My X800XT can't handle running that high of a resolution with AA, but I'd rather forget AA and run the native res. I tried running HL2 and one resolution lower, and I couldn't stand it. So, in my opinion, go for the highest res possible. Maybe I just suck at playing games, but when I'm trying my hardest NOT to die, I can't say my brain is thinking "look, there's a jagged edge which AA could of fixed" it's thinking "i can't believe i accidentally reloaded my rifle while the guy was shooting me in the head"
 
Zinn said:
I find the 2005fpw is barely large enough for the work I do... I might consider a second smaller monitor to play games and work on, but then there'd be no SLI for me.
Click to expand...

You can do both. The latest drivers don't even require a reboot when switching modes(usually).
 
Is there anywhere where I could see what an image running at non-native res looks like on a LCD?

-pig
 
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