ATI Radeon 64MB DDR

FSAA Quality

Unlike 3dfx's T-Buffer solution for FSAA implementation, ATI took the same route as NVIDIA, using super sampling for FSAA. ATI did not seem very keen on the idea of using FSAA in any situation, an aspect that may explain the poor driver support for this feature. The only FSAA mode available is controlled by a single check box indicating FSAA enabled or disabled. With the check box unchecked, the card runs in standard non-FSAA mode. When checked, the drivers force the game to be rendered using FSAA 4x mode (2x by 2x in NVIDIA's terms). Although this may offer a simpler FSAA solution for those not familiar with the option, the lack of FSAA settings seen in competitor's drivers significantly reduces the number of game-play options.

As mentioned before, ATI does not view FSAA as a viable gaming solution. Citing huge performance drops, ATI argues that improving image quality does not come from blurring the scene but rather running at higher resolutions. Although this can be argued almost endlessly, not including any FSAA driver support would hurt the Radeon's high performance image, as many would see this as a missing feature. By including FSAA 4x, ATI can claim FSAA support on box, even though the number of FSAA choices are drastically less than those of competitors.

How does ATI's 4x only FSAA mode look? We will be taking a more comprehensive look at FSAA quality in the coming weeks, but let's take a quick peak at the Radeon's FSAA quality.

Radeon

Radeon, FSAA off

Radeon, FSAA on (4X super sampled)

NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS

GeForce 2 GTS FSAA 1.5 screen resolution

GeForce 2 GTS 2x screen resolution, with LOD’s (MIPMaps) at the native game resolution

2x screen resolution with MIPMaps at the 2x resolution

3dfx Voodoo5 5500

Voodoo5 5500, FSAA off

 

Voodoo5 5500, FSAA 2 sample

 

Voodoo5 5500, FSAA 4 sample

As the screen shots show, the Voodoo5 5500 in 4 sample mode dominates the new comer to the game, the Radeon. The Radeon's image quality with FSAA enabled seems to be about equivalent to the GeForce 2 GTS when in 2x2 high quality mode. While the may look similar, let's see if they perform similar