Correct AA Setting in NVInspector and Ingame

[thc002]

Hi Nexusfolks,

 

I´ve been reading through hundreds of posts about this, but I'm still not sure, which solutions are the optimum. I'm looking to really enhancing the graphics of this great game, without using all the post-prcess stuff, I do not like.

The point which keeps me searching for the best settings, is that things get really complicated (for a newbie), when it comes to all the different styles of AA (like SSAA, MSAA, SGSSAA, etc.)

 

Maybe someone deeper than me into this, may hep me out to get the best setting for my GTX570.

Right now I'm using the NvInspector which this settings:

http://static.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/images/11-5-1323001860.jpg

I'm not very pleased with this, as the image quality is still not what I expect.

 

There are some specific questions: Is it better to force the AA setting in the Inspector ("override ingame setting"), or does it make more sence, to switch it too "enhance ingame setting"?

 

The second one: Which ingame settings are useful, when tweaking AA via Inspector? I read in a forum post, that it may be important to fit the ingame settings to the Inspector setting (especially when using sparse-grid AA). Is this correct? Do I have to do some math, to get the optimum?

:psyduck:

 

Thanx very much!

[thc002]

*push*

[thc002]

*push*

[NoxyGame]

 

There are some specific questions: Is it better to force the AA setting in the Inspector ("override ingame setting"), or does it make more sence, to switch it too "enhance ingame setting"?

The second one: Which ingame settings are useful, when tweaking AA via Inspector? I read in a forum post, that it may be important to fit the ingame settings to the Inspector setting (especially when using sparse-grid AA). Is this correct? Do I have to do some math, to get the optimum?
:psyduck:

Hey thc002,

I've also whondered about a good AA solution for Skyrim especially for transparency AA and did some FullScene Sparse Grid SSAA tests myself.
4xMSAA + 4xSGSSAA with a little higher negative LOD has a good visual quality, but costs some more GPU performance and a bit more VRAM, with your gfx card you might drop below your display refresh rate (Vsync on, of course) and experience little stuttering because of a non constant framerate.
The 4x config will pretty much reduce any flickering of moving objects... you'll notice it during loading screens when the objects are zoomed and and if they have transparency or specular glossiness.

*Note* I did some more testing today. Make sure to ENHANCE the AA setting... otherwise you'll lose performance and gain no benefit from doing it with override! */Note*

But if you want to trade some performance for visual quality you could set forced vsync to 1/2. This way you might stay on a steady 30 fps and you could run the 8x config or the 4x config and even enable Ambient Occlusion but don't choose the Performance setting.. you'll experience shadow/shader flickering from bushes as you walk by... so choose Quality instead... with AO enabled the game itself looks a little better speaking of more realistic.

Here's a screenshot of the config window for 4x config with half vsync rate
http://aes-autopflege.de/tmp/NV_insp_config_4xSGSSAA.png

You might want to test 2xMSAA + 2xSGSSAA with a neg. LOD of -0.375 or -0.250 if you're not satisfied with the performance.
Don't forget the C1 bit in the AA compatibility setting. I've seen some other posts where 10C1 or 12C1 is recommended... this needs a deeper look at... because Diablo 3 for example has 12C1 and SGSSAA works pretty good there too.

I've also added 2 ingame screenshots showing the difference between 2x and 4x in detail.
But the real difference can be seen with moving objects that have transparency like the needles of the trees. Less flickering and very fine details!

Greetings Noxy Edited May 15, 2013 by NoxyGame