Quick AA question

[Damian Swift]

Can i turn on AA on my graphic card (using ccc) and then turn it off in-game (thus saving valuable processor power) ?

will i still get the same amount of AA?

Eg, Turn my gfx card to 8x aa then in the game graphics setting turn off AA .. wil i still get 8x aa in game?

Thanks

[AusSkiller]

Can i turn on AA on my graphic card (using ccc) and then turn it off in-game (thus saving valuable processor power) ?

will i still get the same amount of AA?

Eg, Turn my gfx card to 8x aa then in the game graphics setting turn off AA .. wil i still get 8x aa in game?

Thanks

Using drivers for AA should be a last resort only to be used if you really want AA and can't get it working via in game options. In most cases it'll either be slower than the in game settings or wont work as intended by the developers.

[Shootist]

Can i turn on AA on my graphic card (using ccc) and then turn it off in-game (thus saving valuable processor power) ?

will i still get the same amount of AA?

Eg, Turn my gfx card to 8x aa then in the game graphics setting turn off AA .. wil i still get 8x aa in game?

Thanks

You will take only minor performance hits with AA and AF in X3TC. Graphics rendering is not the major performance bottleneck in this game, all those blamed scripts are.

[Alan Phipps]

Err I don't quite agree with the previous two posters.

If you use the in-game setting to do AA/AF enhancement you will use the cpu core that is running X3TC and your RAM to do the initial pre-processing and in direct competition with the game itself for cpu resources. If you switch those settings off and max them on the graphics card control panel you will only use the card's gpu and dedicated memory to do the work instead - which is surely why you bought it.

Any drivers used will have a very small overhead and will probably be running on a different core to X3TC anyway.

Some posters on the Tech Support reported great in-game benefit through doing this (as I did), some reported only a little gain, but no-one that I recall said it made things worse. Nevertheless, the most obvious thing to do is just to try it and see as nothing here is irreversible.

[AusSkiller]

Some posters on the Tech Support reported great in-game benefit through doing this (as I did), some reported only a little gain, but no-one that I recall said it made things worse. Nevertheless, the most obvious thing to do is just to try it and see as nothing here is irreversible.

X3 must be an exception then, the games I've tried driver AA in all ran between 10% and 50% worse or the AA wasn't working correctly (or at all), then again that was a few years back and I've not tried it since. But as a games programmer I still don't recommend it be done since it deviates from the games expected graphics pipeline which could lead to several issues, though most are minor and the main issue being that it does AA on the wrong frame buffers.

[Alan Phipps]

@ AusSkiller: OK I can see where you are coming from on a single core cpu maybe. (I also think the quality/stability of the graphics drivers has improved no end over the last few years.) Later, you are really talking about the resultant graphics quality/stability whereas in X3TC the issue is rather one of fps where cpu lag is the true game immersion killer rather than possibly imperfect graphics. Like I say though, it is a subjective issue that is easily tested in-game and reversed if necessary - so it probably doesn't need too much debate or any real defence of personal preference.

[Shootist]

@ AusSkiller: OK I can see where you are coming from on a single core cpu maybe. (I also think the quality/stability of the graphics drivers has improved no end over the last few years.) Later, you are really talking about the resultant graphics quality/stability whereas in X3TC the issue is rather one of fps where cpu lag is the true game immersion killer rather than possibly imperfect graphics. Like I say though, it is a subjective issue that is easily tested in-game and reversed if necessary - so it probably doesn't need too much debate or any real defence of personal preference.

I'm an old guy. I've been playing computer games since, actually before, the S100 buss.

I was ganging (3dfx) video cards in the late 80s, early 90s. I consider myself an enthusiast. I overclock, no LN2, but I've ran my first water loop when Thatcher was PM, before Clinton was President. I still have a q6700 running at over 3.8ghz, on air. I buy expensive video cards and play silly games. I have tried to keep current with hardware and in fact have worked in IT since 1977.

Alan, I cannot find anything from ATi, nvidia, Intel or Microsoft that supports your method of setting advanced video features.

Fron nHancer "

Anti-Aliasing
This setting gives the application control over the Anti-Aliasing. If an application has internal settings for anti-aliasing, it's usually better to use the Application option and set the preferred Anti-Aliasing mode from within the game itself.

Some games might even stop to work correctly or slow down considerably, if you force an Anti-Aliasing mode through the driver even though they offer an in-game setting for it.

http://www.nhancer.com/?dat=d_enhancements

Help a fellow out with a little technical reading? Thanks.

[Nafensoriel]

It's 50/50 almost when it comes to whether or not to use driver based AA/AF or software based AA/AF especially in newer games with newer cards. With X.. it's hardware. Probably due to the age of the engine but I honestly don't follow this technical detail that closely anymore. A general rule of thumb is experiment. It's fun and mentally stimulating!

[Alan Phipps]

@ Shootist: I can only go by what works for me and what I read when it has for others: See last post in this: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=276818
Maybe it is just a quirk with ATI and X3TC, who knows? Anyway, I'm just glad we can both enjoy our games.
(PS: I wonder if you are (much) older than I am - pushing 60 yet?)

[Astramann]

Eg, Turn my gfx card to 8x aa then in the game graphics setting turn off AA .. wil i still get 8x aa in game?

Thanks

yes. but the forced aa wil be slightly slower than x3`s aa.
aa in x3 will have, as saied, minor effect on fps in most situations you encounter in x3.
the exeption are areas where you see insane ammounts of poligones (ie: large complexes).

personaly, i think the x3 4xaa is nice enugh. but if you want better aa, maby try one of these mods that reduce the poligone ammount of the complex tubes, and youll proably notice only a verry small impact when forcing higer quality aa with your drivers.

[Shootist]

@ Shootist: I can only go by what works for me and what I read when it has for others: See last post in this: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=276818
Maybe it is just a quirk with ATI and X3TC, who knows? Anyway, I'm just glad we can both enjoy our games.
(PS: I wonder if you are (much) older than I am - pushing 60 yet?)

Yes, pushing 60 yet, still. For a minute.