To AA or not to AA

I recently upgraded my computer to an AMD XP 2800+ with 1GB of RAM and a Radeon 9700 PRO. Good enough to ask whether or not I could run Anti-Aliased in games. So I ran some benchmarks.

It isn't worth using AA at very high Resolution the performance drop is still just too big. There are three factors in the decision: 1) Video quality, 2) Performance and 3) Gameplay issues.

Video quality, I find that 4x4 Antialiasing does in fact look slightly better at 1024x768 than no antialiasing at 1600x1200. One point for AA

Performance is a wash. Benchmarks I have run show that 1024x768 with AA is nearly identical framerate as 1600x1200 without. Tie

Gameplay, this is a biggy. Most games have text displays and other information that appears on the screen along with the 3D game world. HUD displays in flight and FPS games, chat areas in MMOG's. The lower the resolution, the more of your screeen gets covered with these items. In my book this is important.

Therefore, for now, it appears the choice is this: If your monitor will not support higher resolutions, but you have a fast system, then AA can make things look a lot better for you. IF you have a system that can handle 1280x1024 or higher without problem, then going to these levels without AA is your best bet.