nVidia GeForce GT200 Series Anti-Aliasing Investigation
2560×1600
In Doom 3 we yet again observe identical performance from 8xAA and 16xAA. Also there’s a huge performance hit from 8xQ which confirms the OpenGL performance issue on nVidia cards with this mode still exists. Additionally, 8xS is much faster than 16xQ.
In Far Cry 1 we again see 8xAA and 16xAA being very close in performance, and not much slower than 4xAA. We also see 8xS being faster than 16xQ.
And lastly, in Half-Life 2, we again see 16xAA and 8xAA being close in performance and not much slower than 4xAA. We also see 8xS being hugely faster than 16xQ, and for the first time 8xQ is faster than 8xAA and 16xAA.
I run 2560×1600 with 2 gtx280’s and something very noticable was how much smoother all games run with AA (all in game no need for Nvidia control panel) when I upgraded from Vista 64 to Win 7 64. Games like Crysis and COH at 2560×1600 everything maxed with 8xcsa wouldnt even render a frame with Vista, after upgrade to WIN 7 64, COH and Crysis run 16x NP, (Cryis with low FPS obviously) SLI 285’s and 280’s Win7 is the way to go.
Yes, Windows 7 handles SLI/CF better than Vista.