FSAA & Image Quality Comparison - 3dfx vs ATI vs NVIDIA

To compare 3dfx's various FSAA levels we turn to Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed. We took three screenshots all at 640 x 480 x 32, one with FSAA disabled, one with 2 Sample FSAA enabled and the final shot with 4 Sample FSAA enabled. We then took the middle 1/3 of each screen shot and produced the comparison below.

The things to look for are:

1) There is a faint power line in the distance, the line should be smooth and continuous.

2) The left edges of the screen shouldn't be jagged.

3) The side of the 911 Turbo should be smooth and not appear to be jagged.

The first thing you'll notice is that the power line seems to appear then disappear in both the first and second screenshots (FSAA off & 2 Sample FSAA enabled). While the effect isn't as bad with 2 Sample FSAA enabled, it's still noticeable, and it is even more so on maps that have a lighter background and larger powerlines.

The side of the Turbo appears somewhat smoother with 2 sample FSAA enabled, as do the bottoms of the pillars. Other than the powerline, 2 Sample FSAA appears to be just fine.

The top of the building below the rear view mirror is also very jagged without FSAA enabled, but appears smooth as silk with 4 Sample FSAA; however, at the same time, it suffers from very poor performance with this mode enabled.