GeForce GTX260+ vs Radeon 4850 Part 2: Image Quality
by BFG10K on Feb.10, 2009, under Articles, Technology
nVidia’s Advantages
- Best anisotropic filtering in consumer space.
- TrAA is more accurate and performs more work to alpha textures.
- Full scene super-sampling AA modes.
ATi’s Advantages
- 24xAA is the best pure edge AA mode in consumer space.
- AAA functions in OpenGL.
- Very fast and efficient 8xMSAA relative to hardware specs.
Conclusion
Factoring everything that has been covered in this article, I tend to prefer nVidia’s image quality overall as I’m a big fan of full scene super-sampling. Visible gains from edge AA tend to rapidly diminish after 4xAA, so to see large improvements during gaming you have to start anti-aliasing other parts of the scene, not just edges. That and after gaming with nVidia’s superior AF since November 2006, I can immediately spot the regression when I game on ATi hardware.
Since you might have different criteria for evaluating image quality, I’d encourage you to pick the vendor strongest in the areas you care the most about.
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February 10th, 2009 on 5:33 pm
This is the best image quality comparison I’ve seen regarding the 4800s and GTX 200s. As always, great job BFG, and thanks for all of the hard work.
February 10th, 2009 on 11:27 pm
Damn, i have to agree. i was lucky to get a preview of this review and i learned a lot from it. BFG10K has been working on and polishing this review for quite some time and his hard work and effort really shows in a deep but very clearly understandable article. He does not waste a single word yet covers what he intends expertly.
February 10th, 2009 on 11:45 pm
Thanks for your support everyone. It’s the readers like you that make it all worthwhile.
March 15th, 2009 on 10:47 pm
I Used to be a die hard nvidia fan – loved my BFG 7950GT,Had a truly fabulous Zotac 8800GT AMP, But my last graphics upgrade has been my first to cross over to ATI and the HD4850. I now have 2 in crossfire (mainly because nvidia motherboards are quite frankly terrible ! Having been unfortunate enough to own a couple i include the Striker 2 extreme in that). I have friends still scared to try anything but NVIDIA or Infact made by BFG -(Great cards,incredible warranty – but have you ever had a gfx card for more than a couple of years ?)- They own 260’s and 280’s but i wouldn’t swap the ATI’s because the gaming performance and picture quality is i’m afraid to dissapoint you – BETTER WITH ATI 4800 SERIES GRAPHICS CARDS. These things happen AMD were great and overclocked for england ,Intel topped them with the core 2’s, Nvidia 8 series were great, GTX200 series came out too expensive and ATI struck gold with the RV770 chipset , swings and roundabouts gentlemen , What counts above all else is FPS per £/$ and that means ATI 4800 .
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