Best Anti-Aliasing Settings & Modes To Use

Anti-aliasing is an essential graphics setting that can make your games look much smoother and cleaner.

Images can look jagged or pixelated without anti-aliasing, which detracts from the gaming experience.

In this article, we’ll discuss what anti-aliasing is, the different types of anti-aliasing, and the best anti-aliasing settings to use for your PC.

Quick Answer:

For optimal image quality and performance, use MSAA (Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing) at 2x or 4x settings, and consider combining with TAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing) if supported by the application. Adjust based on hardware capabilities and desired frame rates.

What is Anti-Aliasing?

Anti-aliasing is used in computer graphics to smooth jagged edges in images.

Pixels on computer monitors are square, but the advantages of objects in games are rarely perfectly straight lines.

This can make edges appear jagged or staircase-like when rendered.

Anti-aliasing works by blending the colours of pixels to create the illusion of smoother edges.

It “softens” the transition between edge and background pixels, making lines and objects look more natural.

The result is an image that looks much cleaner and less pixelated.

Anti-aliasing removes the visual distraction of jagged edges so you can fully immerse yourself in the game.

Best Anti-Aliasing Settings

The best anti-aliasing settings depend on your graphics card power and the game you are playing. Here are some recommendations:

• For high-end cards like the RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT, opt for 4x or 8x MSAA. This offers vastly improved image quality over no anti-aliasing at a reasonable performance cost.
• On mid-range cards like the RTX 2060 or RX 5700 XT, use 2x or 4x MSAA. You’ll get smoother edges without as big of an FPS hit.
• For entry-level cards, SMAA or FXAA are good options. They have minimal performance impact but still make a difference visually.
• In competitive multiplayer games where high frame rates are crucial, FXAA or no anti-aliasing is preferable. The smoothness of high FPS outweighs minor image degradation.
• In slower-paced, cinematic games, feel free to crank MSAA up to 8x or enable SSAA for an ultra-sharp picture. Performance is less critical here.

You may need to experiment with the settings to find the right image quality and FPS balance for your preferences and system capabilities.

Don’t be afraid to try different options and see which you like the best!

Types of Anti-Aliasing

There are several different anti-aliasing techniques available:

• FSAA (Full Scene Anti-Aliasing) – Renders the entire scene at a higher internal resolution before downscaling to your monitor’s native resolution. It offers the best image quality but is very demanding.
• MSAA (Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing) – Samples multiple colour values per pixel and blends them for smooth edges. Very effective but also quite demanding.
• SSAA (Super Sample Anti-Aliasing) – Renders at a higher resolution and scales down to your native resolution. It provides excellent edge smoothing but requires a lot of GPU power.
• FXAA (Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing) – Applies a post-process edge smoothing filter. Low-performance impact but lower image quality compared to other techniques.
• SMAA (Enhanced Subpixel Morphological Anti-Aliasing) – An advanced post-process filter that detects edges and smoothes them. Balances performance and visual quality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ques 1: What does anti-aliasing do?

Anti-aliasing smooths jagged edges in games by blending pixel colours.

This makes lines and edges look more natural and less pixelated or “staircase-like”. The result is a cleaner, smoother overall image.

Ques 2: Does higher anti-aliasing always look better?

Not necessarily. Extreme settings like 8x MSAA or SSAA come with significant performance penalties so you may get worse framerates for slight visible improvement over 4x MSAA.

Find the setting that balances quality and FPS well for your setup.

Ques 3: Is anti-aliasing necessary?

It’s not strictly “necessary”, but games look much better with anti-aliasing enabled.

Reducing jagged edges makes the image far less distracting, so you can better enjoy the game. Even lightweight anti-aliasing can produce a noticeable difference.

Ques 4: What’s the difference between FXAA and MSAA?

Ans: FXAA is a simple post-process filter that quickly smoothes edges.

It has minimal performance impact but lower image quality than more advanced techniques like MSAA, which renders extra samples per pixel for superior edge smoothing.

Ques 5: Should I enable anti-aliasing in competitive games?

In fast-paced online games like first-person shooters, raw frame rate is more important than image quality.

Either use light FXAA or disable anti-aliasing altogether to maximize FPS for smoother gameplay.