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what is IQ?
- Thread starter grifter
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Steel Chicken
Supreme [H]ardness
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it stands for image quality, and its vague, user specific, and opinionated
people with slow cards like to cling to it when other peoples cards perform better
people with slow cards like to cling to it when other peoples cards perform better
inotocracy
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Steel Chicken said:
I always thought it was the opposite (people with slow cards complain IQ doesn't matter as much)?
chinesepiratefood
2[H]4U
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until they get a good computer and cannot go back
I'm just going to unload my thoughts here:
Image quality is a very subjective matter.
I remember playing Marathon (the series from Bungie Software, which was a precursor to Halo) on my Mac almost a decade ago, and I had such a slow machine that all of the enemies were horrifically pixelated, and I had to ratchet down the settings so that it would only draw every other horizontal line (it was like looking through a screen door at everything). I didn't mind, though, because the game was so engrossing that I really didn't care what everything looked like. When I got a better machine, I played Marathon again; it looked a hell of a lot better but it was still the same game.
Another example of my gaming proclivities includes Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSOne, and by no means is this game visually advanced. All of the characters are chibi little sprites, most of the dialogue is in word balloons with unanimated character profiles in the corner, and there's little to no animation. I play that game relentlessly for hours on end because the story is awesome, the combat is like playing a magical version of Chess, and I suffer from the "One More Turn" syndrome that tactical game players have.
These days, since graphics technology is so advanced, many games are quite reliant on how the game looks, almost more so than how good the gameplay is or how involving the storyline is. Since this is so, having a more powerful video card is practically a must in order to enjoy a game. I have what would be considered a 'mid-range' card and a 17" widescreen display which maxes out at 1280x768. I can play all games but F.E.A.R. at the maximum supported resolution of my screen with all I.Q. settings turned up or at near-highest settings. Granted, everything looks pretty and all, but it's not to say that the games wouldn't be enjoyable at lower settings. F.E.A.R. was still quite effective in provoking mood and suspense for me, even at lower settings.
If I were to make a conclusion about the current state of image quality and PC gaming, it would be this:
If you're satisfied with the fact that the game looks really nice, and don't care whether or not it's just masking of an otherwise run-of-the-mill game, then image quality is of the upmost importance. If, however, you would rather enjoy a good story, involving gameplay, and something you can imagine going back to over and over again for entertainment, then you can probably live without 16x AF, though it would be nice to have it.
Image quality is a very subjective matter.
I remember playing Marathon (the series from Bungie Software, which was a precursor to Halo) on my Mac almost a decade ago, and I had such a slow machine that all of the enemies were horrifically pixelated, and I had to ratchet down the settings so that it would only draw every other horizontal line (it was like looking through a screen door at everything). I didn't mind, though, because the game was so engrossing that I really didn't care what everything looked like. When I got a better machine, I played Marathon again; it looked a hell of a lot better but it was still the same game.
Another example of my gaming proclivities includes Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSOne, and by no means is this game visually advanced. All of the characters are chibi little sprites, most of the dialogue is in word balloons with unanimated character profiles in the corner, and there's little to no animation. I play that game relentlessly for hours on end because the story is awesome, the combat is like playing a magical version of Chess, and I suffer from the "One More Turn" syndrome that tactical game players have.
These days, since graphics technology is so advanced, many games are quite reliant on how the game looks, almost more so than how good the gameplay is or how involving the storyline is. Since this is so, having a more powerful video card is practically a must in order to enjoy a game. I have what would be considered a 'mid-range' card and a 17" widescreen display which maxes out at 1280x768. I can play all games but F.E.A.R. at the maximum supported resolution of my screen with all I.Q. settings turned up or at near-highest settings. Granted, everything looks pretty and all, but it's not to say that the games wouldn't be enjoyable at lower settings. F.E.A.R. was still quite effective in provoking mood and suspense for me, even at lower settings.
If I were to make a conclusion about the current state of image quality and PC gaming, it would be this:
If you're satisfied with the fact that the game looks really nice, and don't care whether or not it's just masking of an otherwise run-of-the-mill game, then image quality is of the upmost importance. If, however, you would rather enjoy a good story, involving gameplay, and something you can imagine going back to over and over again for entertainment, then you can probably live without 16x AF, though it would be nice to have it.
Games like BF1942 and WOW, look great on ATi cards, but on nVidia cards the textures look washed out.
The nVidia textures can be fixed somewhat by setting LOD to -1 or -2 in rivatuner, but it introduces shimmering the higher the FSAA setting is. ATi has a better texture by default but also with a slight shimmer.
The point at which IQ becomes important is when you make a hardware switch to something thats faster but doesn't have the same IQ, it drives you nuts.
The nVidia textures can be fixed somewhat by setting LOD to -1 or -2 in rivatuner, but it introduces shimmering the higher the FSAA setting is. ATi has a better texture by default but also with a slight shimmer.
The point at which IQ becomes important is when you make a hardware switch to something thats faster but doesn't have the same IQ, it drives you nuts.
iq is your ability to understand and reason out simple or complicated thoughts within the brain. your level of iq is determined by how fast and accurate you can figure out situations that you must put in order. 
im drunk right now just fukn around bro but had to reply
im drunk right now just fukn around bro but had to replyBrent_Justice
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Image Quality is subjective to a point. There is a point at which it is objective as well. It's both. Obviously it depends on what specifically you are talking about. Image Quality is an incredibly broad term.