question about EFB vs AA

[sixor]

hi, i just wish to know which one is better 3x efb or 4x AA

i tried to enable both but there are slowndowns, maybe i could Oc my gtx460 later at 820-1130

what do you think is the best quality-performance for this gpu?

currently 6880, 1440x900, efb3x, nvidia gtx 460 oc

thanks

[Squall Leonhart]

neither, its not a matter of better, since they both do different jobs which provide a better image when used together.

for instance, 3x efb results in out of focus objects in the distance while improving the clarrity of things closer (and more so on larger objects), while 4xSSAA results in these being clearer (ladder to links house in ZTP for instance)

[tuanming]

In other words, EFB enhanced the details or picture quality, while AA or SSAA gives a sharper or cleaner image. If both are enabled, then you'd get the best possible graphics, thus resulting in lowered fps.

[sixor]

thanks for the answers

i overclocked my gpu, still can't enable both

since they look the same for me, then what is the less demanding for the gpu, just to know since each runs great on my pc

also what about fractional? i guess fractional < 3x

[Squall Leonhart]

if i can enable it on a 275, it should enable just fine on a 460 or 6880.

what are your other display settings, note that pixel lighting will utterly take out your fps, and efb to ram requires extremely high memory to cpu bandwidth.

[NaturalViolence]

Ugh, I really don't want to explain this yet again.

efb scale and SSAA both affect internal resolution. 2x efb scale is really a 2x scale in both directions, therefore 4x the total resolution. The only difference between them is the downscaling method. SSAA resolution is downscaled to efb resolution before efb resolution is upscaled/downscaled to the backbuffer resolution (your screen resolution).

Assuming it's a 4:3 game the internal resolutions would be:

1x efb scale
640 x 528

1x efb scale + 4xSSAA
1280 x 1056

2x efb scale
1280 x 1056

2x efb scale + 4xSSAA
2560 x 2112

3x efb scale
1920 x 1584

3x efb scale + 4xSSAA
3840 x 3168

fractional
whatever your screen resolution is

fraction + 4xSSAA
double the width and height of your screen resolution

The higher the internal resolution is the more gpu throughput ("speed") you will need. Fractional + 4xSSAA will yield the best visual quality out of everything I listed.

[Squall Leonhart]

4x+3x can run at playable (game depending, and whether or not you use efb to ram)

[NaturalViolence]

Nothing short of a 5870 or GTX570/480 can run the heavier games like SMG2 with 3x efb scale + 4xSSAA without framerate drops from a gpu bottleneck (and that's WITHOUT per pixel lighting). Only reason for this is because dolphin sometimes has to render 9+ different efb copies per frame.

[sixor]

good explanation, thanks naturalviolence

btw i am using
pixel light, pixel depth, force trili, copy to texture, 16x AF, 1440x900,

all those settings + 3x = fullspeed
the same + 2x + 4xaa = fullspeed
the same +3x +4xaa = slowndowns
the same + 3x + 9xaa = weird lines artifacts, full slow

still is hard to notice difference between 3x and 4xAA

thanks everyone now i get it

-------

another quick questions

does progressive scan get any better image quality? i guess it does nothing on a pc monitor

is there any difference between svn optimized sse3 and regular?

[NaturalViolence]

Quote:pixel light, pixel depth, force trili, copy to texture, 16x AF, 1440x900,

Turn off force bi/trilinear filtering unless you're playing a 2D game or a game with prerendered backgrounds, it can screw up some textures and won't make a difference anyways for 3D games. Turn off pixel lighting period, it isn't needed and it massively increases gpu load. Turn off pixel depth for any game that doesn't need it (99.9% don't).

Quote:does progressive scan get any better image quality? i guess it does nothing on a pc monitor

Yes. It causes games that support it to run in progressive scan mode. Although I'm not sure if xfb emulation needs to be on for it to have an effect, best to just leave it on either way.

Quote:is there any difference between svn optimized sse3 and regular?

Yes. They are compiled with the sse3 flag so the compiler is allowed to use sse3 instructions. It may improve performance depending on the cpu.