Question about the Xbox 360 and Anti-Aliasing

[Eks]

If the Xbox 360 has a 10mb eDRAM chip on the GPU that can do 4x MSAA, then why don't all games utilize it or at least not all of it? (i.e. GTA IV uses 2x instead of 4)

There's probably a more technical catch to it or something that I simply don't know, though I heard it can really only be used fully when the game is rendered natively in a sub-HD resolution (to soften the blow of upscaling I imagine).

 

[Grayfox]

FPS.

The higher the AA setting the lower your frame rate will be since the GPU has to work harder to make things look nicer.

A lower setting wont look as good but will be more fluid with the frame rate.

 

[Techy]

AA is one of the most taxing for any GPU. If a game is suffering performance-wise, AA is the second thing you should go to after resolution. GTA IV obviously shows this with its terrible jaggies but it's all to scramble for FPS.

 

[Eks]

Ah, right. So it's just the fact that it will be detrimental to the framerate? Strange, as I thought the 10mb chip did the AA by itself without the GPU, and that's why it was an advantage.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

A really good HDTV will also make a world of difference in the amount of AA you see in a game. I learned this about 3 years ago after I spent 30 straight days trying and buying multiple tvs. A good tv truly will make a huge difference.