AA worth the FPS hit at 4k?

[DarkKnightVFX]

Hey all!

I've got a GTX 1080 ti and a 4k monitor, and the question is in the title. Is it worth it sacrificing some frames by using AA in order to get rid of any few jaggies I may encounter at 4k? Will I notice a difference at all with it on vs off? 

 

For example, in Rise of the Tomb Raider I get a near solid 60 with no AA, but when I turn on FXAA it drops to about 55 average. Is there at all a difference. especially for losing 5 frames?

 

[Zando_]

Turn it on. Look. If it looks better, use it. If it looks worser, don't use it. Simple. 

[WereCat]

Are you annoyed by the aliasing? Turn up AA.

Are you annoyed by low FPS? Turn dow AA.

 

Do you feel like 55FPS is so bad that you need to see the glorious number 60FPS to feel warmth in your heart? Turn down AA!

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

Are you annoyed by the aliasing? Turn up AA.

Are you annoyed by low FPS? Turn dow AA.

 

Do you feel like 55FPS is so bad that you need to see the glorious number 60FPS to feel warmth in your heart? Turn down AA!

Yup. It's up to the OP if there's difference, as I'm not sitting in front of his PC looking at it to see whether it looks bad or good. 

[DarkKnightVFX]

Just now, WereCat said:

Are you annoyed by the aliasing? Turn up AA.

Are you annoyed by low FPS? Turn dow AA.

 

Do you feel like 55FPS is so bad that you need to see the glorious number 60FPS to feel warmth in your heart? Turn down AA!

 

2 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Turn it on. Look. If it looks better, use it. If it looks worser, don't use it. Simple. 

Got it. I barely noticed a difference with AA on in ROTTR, but I assume it varies depending on the game, which will require some testing and adjustment.

[TechyInAZ]

Don't use it if your FPS is too low for your personal tastes. Just as said above ^^^

[WereCat]

Just now, DarkKnightVFX said:

 

Got it. I barely noticed a difference with AA on in ROTTR, but I assume it varies depending on the game, which will require some testing and adjustment.

Don't get me wrong. There is a valid reason to use AA even on 4k. There are many kinds of aliasing and you will see it especially on shadows or transparent textures.... in some games. If you can't see it... don't turn it on. Simple.

[DarkKnightVFX]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

Don't get me wrong. There is a valid reason to use AA even on 4k. There are many kinds of aliasing and you will see it especially on shadows or transparent textures.... in some games. If you can't see it... don't turn it on. Simple.

Definitely. GTA V is an example of when even a little AA makes a difference. But usually the performance hit isn't worth the small difference.

[WereCat]

1 minute ago, DarkKnightVFX said:

Definitely. GTA V is an example of when even a little AA makes a difference. But usually the performance hit isn't worth the small difference.

If you have Maxwell or Pascal NVIDIA card and the game uses MSAA you can go into the NVIDIA Control Panel and turn on the MFAA which will override MSAA in games. It has the same visual effect but with half the performance hit.

[Zando_]

4 minutes ago, WereCat said:

Don't get me wrong. There is a valid reason to use AA even on 4k. There are many kinds of aliasing and you will see it especially on shadows or transparent textures.... in some games. If you can't see it... don't turn it on. Simple.

I've got every AA setting I could find maxed out in Nvidia Control Panel.... but then, I'm running Battlefront II (from 2005, and can run on a potato) with a bunch of mods on a 980 Ti. 

[DarkKnightVFX]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

If you have Maxwell or Pascal NVIDIA card and the game uses MSAA you can go into the NVIDIA Control Panel and turn on the MFAA which will override MSAA in games. It has the same visual effect but with half the performance hit.

Hmm, interesting. I'll have to play around with that a bit

[Praesi]

I give your Troll attempt a 6/10.

[Ryzen init bro]

Use fxaa but you could always drop shadows by one (it looks the same) to get the same performance 

[Frankenburger]

If you have frames to spare and the difference is perceivable, then yes. Contrary to popular belief, aliasing still exists at 4k, and can be quite noticeable depending on the game you play and the PPI of your screen.