Image quality comparison

To see how NVIDIA’s new CSAA mode compares to more conventional 4xMSAA, as well as ATI’s Radeon X1950 XTX we loaded up the following scene in Battlefield 2142:

G80 4xMSAA/16xAF

G80 16xCSAA/16xAF

G80 8xMSAA/16xAF

G80 8xCSAA/16xAF

ATI R580 4xMSAA/16xAF

ATI R580 6xMSAA/16xAF

Note that all of the above images are taken with NVIDIA and ATI’s transparency AA/adaptive AA modes turned on, while gama-correction is added to the NVIDIA board to match ATI’s.

As you can see, our test case has a number of interesting areas that present unique AA challenges to the GPU. For our testing purposes we’re focusing on two areas: the chain-link fence in the bottom right portion of the scene, and the light pole on the left side of the screen. (Keep in mind that this is only a small portion of the scene and that there are several other good areas to look at. Therefore we highly suggest you download the original PNG images and compare the various images on your own offline.)

First let’s see how NVIDIA’s 4xMSAA mode on G80 compares to ATI’s Radeon X1950 XTX:



GeForce 8800 GTX 4xMSAA



GeForce 8800 GTX 8xMSAA




Radeon X1950 XTX 4xMSAA




Radeon X1950 XTX 6xMSAA


Second area:



GeForce 8800 GTX 4xMSAA




GeForce 8800 GTX 8xMSAA



Radeon X1950 XTX 4xMSAA




Radeon X1950 XTX 6xMSAA

Notes

Both NVIDIA and ATI's 4xMSAA modes are pretty comparable to each other in our opinion. You've really got to zoom in on the images (300% or better) to really see the differences. In the past we've shown images that favor both ATI and NVIDIA's GPUs in 4xMSAA. In our testing today with BF2142 it's once again a close battle, but the G80 board does a slightly better job of smoothing the jaggies on the light pole for instance, particularly in the area where the light connects to the pole on both the left and right sides. The top of the pole is just slightly less jagged in our opinion.

And now, NVIDIA’s 4xMSAA compared to 16xCSAA:



GeForce 8800 GTX 4xMSAA




GeForce 8800 GTX w/16xCSAA




GeForce 8800 GTX w/16xCSAA




Second area:



GeForce 8800 GTX 4xMSAA




GeForce 8800 GTX w/16xCSAA

Notes

It's hard to spot the impact of CSAA in our basic screenshots (in games running in motion it's a little easier, but still difficult), you really have to zoom much closer to spot any real differences. Honestly, we prefer NVIDIA's new 8xMSAA mode to the new CSAA mode, at least in terms of visuals. It's much easier to spot the differences in-game between 16xCSAA and 8xMSAA.


GeForce 8800 GTX w/16xCSAA



GeForce 8800 GTX 8xMSAA