MXAA or FXAA?

[jack333]

Good morning dear friends: Could you tell me what gives more graphic quality, MXAA or FXAA, thanks

[Bilbo_Baggins]

MSAA

Edited May 27, 2020 by Bilbo_Baggins

[Livai]

Oh, you don’t like the MXAA or FXAA? Erm… Let me check our options.

I didn’t like the way MXAA or FXAA solution blurred the detail of textures and how the Sharpen Filter in the game oversharp everything. Tweaking its parameters didn’t help much. I try out SMAA, however, due to being a mutlipass algorithm (edge detection, blend weight calculation and neighbourhood blurring even worse than MXAA and FXAA.

 

I tested a 27 inch 4k screen damn look this sharp and clean without using MXAA, FXAA, SMAA. A higher resolution is much better than to use this blurring MXAA, FXAA, SMAA Filters

 

[jack333]

thank´s

[dburne]

MSAA...

[Lusekofte]

I use 2xMSSA both things on sharp  hdr and get great visibility good spotting above ground adequate on ground no shimmering other than occasional roads 

[Bilbo_Baggins]

40 minutes ago, 216th_LuseKofte said:

I use 2xMSSA both things on sharp  hdr and get great visibility good spotting above ground adequate on ground no shimmering other than occasional roads 

Road jaggies/shimmering for me has to be the biggest issue remaining with GFX in the game. Spotting issue has been improved noticeably after last update and the game just looks awesome but the jaggie roads still stand out. 

Edited May 27, 2020 by Bilbo_Baggins

[PatrickAWlson]

Silly question, but where in the game are these options even configurable?  

[Jade_Monkey]

1 hour ago, PatrickAWlson said:

Silly question, but where in the game are these options even configurable?  

Under the graphics section you can switch between MSAA or FXAA.

 

Other options can be done via drivers.

Edited May 27, 2020 by Jade_Monkey

[MattS]

1 minute ago, PatrickAWlson said:

Silly question, but where in the game are these options even configurable?  

 

The MSAA vs. FXAA choice is on the main settings page...other stuff that people talk about like SGSS is in Nvidia profile inspector.

 

Honestly, from years of fighting with FSX etc., I've lost all my appetite for settings, and the many things I have tried don't seem to matter enough to be worth the hassle. I've just put the game on MSAA 4x, vsynch/60FPS because my system seems to demand it to avoid chopping, and landscape blur, sharpen, HDR on with a gamma of 1.0. because that seems to give the best spotting results against both sky and ground clutter. I've added Reshade vibrance at the default strength to saturate the color just a little bit, but I could live without it!

[RedKestrel]

I have been using 4X FXAA in the game settings. Spotting seems much improved in terms of being able to re-acquire contacts after looking away. I haven't tried MSAA yet.

For people on monitors, do you find spotting and contact tracking is easier with MSAA or FXAA? I believe the recommendation for spotting was FXAA in a DD somewhere but I'm interested to see opinions. The other comprehensive thread talking about it is in the context of VR and I think there are some fundamental differences with how the AA works in VR.

[Lusekofte]

My people with screen say fxaa bring a tad better spotting against terrain

[Velxra]

If you turn off the anti-aliasing (FXAA/MSAA) you will actually see planes better a range. But the moment they turn horizontal they become distorted. I like FXAA x2 as the best all around solution. I tried MSAA and it just makes planes look twice as small.

Edited May 27, 2020 by Geronimo553

[SAS_Storebror]

In my case (GTX 970, 27'' WQHD G-Sync screen) the performance impact in MSAA mode, even only at 2x MSAA, is so massive with heavy clouds that there's literally no other option than using FXAA.

I'm not talking about a loss of 10 FPS or so.

I'm talking about 90 FPS in 4x FXAA mode vs. 20 FPS with 2x MSAA.

 

Mike

[Velxra]

On 5/28/2020 at 12:21 AM, SAS_Storebror said:

In my case (GTX 970, 27'' WQHD G-Sync screen) the performance impact in MSAA mode, even only at 2x MSAA, is so massive with heavy clouds that there's literally no other option than using FXAA.

I'm not talking about a loss of 10 FPS or so.

I'm talking about 90 FPS in 4x FXAA mode vs. 20 FPS with 2x MSAA.

 

Mike

 

Yeah ran some more testing today. Running FXAA off produces easily seen planes with great fps, jagged edges in the cockpit, and plane flickering. 4x MSAA provides a steadier picture without flickering or cockpit jagged edges with a reduction (for me) of 50 fps. In quick match 130 fps no issue with fxaa off, 116 fps with 4x fxaa, 70 fps with 4x msaa. At this time I would not use nvidia fxaa as it shrinks the planes in all available settings.  

Edited May 29, 2020 by Geronimo553

[SAS_Storebror]

To me the MSAA FPS impact is strongly related to the clouds being used.

With no clouds, MSAA performs almost as well as FXAA, but the more clouds, the worse it gets.

With heavy clouds and lots of activity in the "visible bubble", MSAA becomes a stutter-fest, whereas FXAA is still working brilliant.

 

Mike

[216th_Jordan]

13 minutes ago, SAS_Storebror said:

To me the MSAA FPS impact is strongly related to the clouds being used.

With no clouds, MSAA performs almost as well as FXAA, but the more clouds, the worse it gets.

With heavy clouds and lots of activity in the "visible bubble", MSAA becomes a stutter-fest, whereas FXAA is still working brilliant.

 

Mike

 

Might this be related to VRAM size limits? Thats what I would guess.

[SAS_Storebror]

Quite possible.

My trusty rusty GTX 970 has 4GB "only", of which 3.5GB are really usable (the old issue with the last 512MB being connected with half the bandwidth only).

 

Mike

[Lusekofte]

1 hour ago, SAS_Storebror said:

Quite possible.

My trusty rusty GTX 970 has 4GB "only", of which 3.5GB are really usable (the old issue with the last 512MB being connected with half the bandwidth only).

 

Mike

Got these settings. A mate using monitor is currently testing it. He found it better in many ways. 2x msaa 2x sharp   
If you haven’t upgraded by the time 30 series arrive I send you mine 1090 ti. 

[SAS_Storebror]

Thanks Otto but you know, it's not lack of money, it's my willingness to invest ?

That being said, others are probably more in need of a good GPU.

 

Now after a couple more tests, it turns out that since the 4.006c update my GTX 970 is very sensitive to the "Clouds quality" setting.

I've had it on "Extreme" all the time since that setting came out and had zero issues with that, FPS was always fine.

Now since 4.006c, "Extreme" and "Heavy" clouds is a no-go.

Something must have changed with that patch.

I can now get my good FPS back by simply setting "Clouds quality" to "High" - in that case MSAA works well again also.

 

TL;DR: GTX 970 test values online, crowded place, "Heavy" clouds.

4x FXAA + Clouds Quality "Extreme" = 90+ FPS

2x MSAA + Clouds Quality "Extreme" = 20-30 FPS

4x MSAA + Clouds Quality "High" = 90+ FPS

 

It's the combination of MSAA, "extreme" and "heavy" clouds that kills it. Note though, this combination worked well up to 4.006b.

No big deal for me.

Can't see much difference between "high" and "extreme" clouds anyway - as much as I love this game, clouds are simply cooked up big times.

 

Mike

[Velxra]

4 hours ago, 216th_LuseKofte said:

Got these settings. A mate using monitor is currently testing it. He found it better in many ways. 2x msaa 2x sharp   
If you haven’t upgraded by the time 30 series arrive I send you mine 1090 ti. 

 

 

With msaa set to 2 in the graphics menu planes become small and they flicker. So it's better to go with 4 in the graphics menu so they dont flicker if using msaa. Which is what is shown in your picture.

Edited May 28, 2020 by Geronimo553

[Lusekofte]

52 minutes ago, Geronimo553 said:

 

With msaa set to 2 in the graphics menu planes become small and they flicker. So it's better to go with 4 in the graphics menu so dont flicker if using msaa. Which it what is shown in your picture.

Thanks. I noticed that yesterday I will put it back to full

1 hour ago, SAS_Storebror said:

Thanks Otto but you know, it's not lack of money, it's my willingness to invest

I know and when 30 series come along I have a adequate card of no use

[TWC_Ace]

MSAA looks better than FXAA..less blurry and better edges. I didnt notice any significant fps drop with MSAA. But ppl with older/weaker rigs could se much of an improvement with FXAA. If you play on 1440p or higher (even better) you really dont need to apply more than 2X AA..

Edited May 28, 2020 by =VARP=Tvrdi

[E69_geramos109]

For me the combination between MSAA and the reshade adaptative sharpen for the moment gives me the better feeling of the game.

The game without sharpening looks blurred for me very ugly.

Edited May 29, 2020 by E69_geramos109

[Deacon352nd]

SAS_Storebor, when you get a chance could you please post a screenshot of your in game graphics settings?  Thanks in advance. 

[SAS_Storebror]

Sure.

 

Nvidia Control Panel settings are driver default globally, and game specific driver default again, except for:

• energy mode= prefer maximum performance
• latency mode = ultra
• Texture Quality = High Quality
• Trilinear Optimization = Off
• Vertical Sync = On

Mike

[Lusekofte]

6 minutes ago, SAS_Storebror said:

 

Mike

There was a problem by using full screen before. 
I believe I remember having that off give better performance. If not fixed

[THERION]

7 minutes ago, SAS_Storebror said:

Sure.

 

Nvidia Control Panel settings are driver default globally, and game specific driver default again, except for:

• energy mode= prefer maximum performance
• latency mode = ultra
• Texture Quality = High Quality
• Trilinear Optimization = Off
• Vertical Sync = On

Mike

Hi Mike,

 

interesting settings you have here - so with these settings you have a smooth experience and also good spotting abilities?

 

Cheerio

[IckyATLAS]

Is MSAA slower than FXAA or there is no difference.

[RedKestrel]

Just now, IckyATLAS said:

Is MSAA slower than FXAA or there is no difference.

MSAA makes more of a performance hit apparently.

[IckyATLAS]

38 minutes ago, SAS_Storebror said:

Sure.

 

Nvidia Control Panel settings are driver default globally, and game specific driver default again, except for:

• energy mode= prefer maximum performance
• latency mode = ultra
• Texture Quality = High Quality
• Trilinear Optimization = Off
• Vertical Sync = On

Mike

May I ask what Nvidia GPU and what Driver version you use with these settings?

[dburne]

5 minutes ago, IckyATLAS said:

Is MSAA slower than FXAA or there is no difference.

 

Yep, MSAA whilst better looking overall has a bigger hit on performance.

Higher end rigs this is not too big a problem, whereas lower end or even mediocre rigs might benefit more by choosing FXAA.

It is really good that 1CGS added the choice.

Edited May 29, 2020 by dburne

[SAS_Storebror]

2 hours ago, 216th_LuseKofte said:

There was a problem by using full screen before.

Yes back in the days of 2.something.

Has been fixed long time since.

 

2 hours ago, -=-THERION said:

with these settings you have a smooth experience and also good spotting abilities?

Smooth yes.

Spotting... I suck big times at spotting, regardless what settings.

 

2 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

May I ask what Nvidia GPU and what Driver version you use with these settings?

Gtx 970, latest driver (446.14 at the time of writing this)

 

Mike 

[PatrickAWlson]

First mission using MSAA and it was spectacular.  Cloudy, dark clouds, sunset, the light and dark shifting as we fly over clouds or beneath them.  Just beautiful.   Also my first mission in an FW190 A3 and I got three, two in flames - also spectacular as the flames and smoke affected the cockpit lighting.  Absolutely the prettiest mission I have ever flown, and this on the Stalingrad map, which is NOT the prettiest map in the game  

[Cathaoir]

Well I am running a i7 7700k with 32 gig or ram an a 1080ti...27" g-sync monitor...been running this for about 2.5 yrs...have never had any problems...none that I noticed anyway ?...currently getting about 100-140 mps...with 4x MSAA, depends on map/clutter etc...maybe I have just been lucky..don't know, but will post my settings just in case they may help someone...oh and I am on the current nvidia driver...

[Lusekofte]

25 minutes ago, SAS_Storebror said:

Spotting... I suck big times at spotting, regardless what settings.

 

Well so do I but I found out here in this site they are all cheaters

 

Just now, Cathaoir said:

Well I am running a i7 7700k with 32 gig or ram an a 1080ti...27" g-sync monitor...been running this for about 2.5 yrs...have never had any problems...none that I noticed anyway ?...currently getting about 100-140 mps...with 4x MSAA, depends on map/clutter etc...maybe I have just been lucky..don't know, but will post my settings just in case they may help someone...oh and I am on the current nvidia driver...

Here is mine Cathoir I have changed to Grass Distant. You should allowe for better settings. Tested the PO 2 today and it had stutters , I never noticed before so I cut a little on grass

[SAS_Storebror]

We must take into account that the specs of those who are posting their settings differ a lot.

We've got different graphics cards - for instance @216th_LuseKofte's GTX 1080 ti is supposed to give 150% better frame rate than my GTX 970.

We've got different screens - for instance @216th_LuseKofte is running the game in FullHD (1920x1080) resolution, I'm running the game at WQHD (2560x1440); when I set the resolution to 1920x1080 instead, I can max out everything as well without falling below 60FPS.

 

After having changed a whole lot of settings, I conclude that:

• Clouds Quality "Extreme" + MSAA really kills FPS in my particular case at WQHD resolution.
  Changing any of these parameters (lower clouds quality or use FXAA or lower screen resolution) makes FPS go back normal.
• HDR on my particular screen (Acer Predator XB271HUbmiprz with IPS panel) looks extremely overexposed and cartoonish
• Any other settings is rather a matter of taste to me...

Mike

[Lusekofte]

Yes using the Rift S does not matter I have to set the resolution native for the screen

only fall pit that can cause microstutter for me is grass on ultra. 
And that only in PO 2. Had a blast yesterday flying and testing the settings. 
My rig cannot produce high fps with these settings,  39 to 75. But at no point any stutter. Except occational at very lowin PO 2

no matter what I do I got this light small shimmering on the clouds furthest away. 
I only noticed yesterday at finnish server rendering me fir some hours in the po 2 testing