Antialiasing/antistropic setting on a 9800 Pro

[DSteckler]

How do I access these settings? Clicking on the ATI icon on the taskbar brings up the standard Win XP display settings and a few other settings but not the antialiasing or antistropic settings.

[kc10]

Did you install the control panel software, or just the drivers?
Sometimes they are packaged together and sometimes not.
If you have, then just right-click on the desktop, and select Properties, Settiings, Advanced Settings, which should open up the ATI settings. Click Direct 3D for your AA and AF settings.
If you click Advanced Settings and don't see the ATI dialog box then you have not installed the control panel.

[DSteckler]

Installing the control panel did the trick. Thank you, kc10!

[mll_kingair]

On the ATI 3d settings for aa and the other where do they need to be set atg please.

[kc10]

depends on a few things. but a couple of sure settings are to uncheck the box for "application preference" next to AA and AF. And you don't need to enable vertical sync either,unless you want it on for other games (useful if you get like 80+ FPS).
My settings,as an axample are:
AA 4x (appl pref unchecked)
AF 4x (app pref unchecked) quality mode selected
no vert sync
texture/mipmap sliders full right
FS at 1280x960x32

FS settings= AA OFF (it's enabled in the ATI control panel)
...........Filtering=none (AF is enabled in ATI control panel)
Some people report that the FS filtering settings work even with AF enabled in the video card, but not so on mine. (??) The video card determines the filtering if you have disabled "app pref" as you should.
Also important_ the mipmap slider in FS should be 4 to 5.

[Bigshot]

I run trilinear filtering in game. Trilinear Filtering and AF are not the same thing. I also run 4xAA & 16xAF Performance mode at 1600x1200x32. Looks nice and the card can handle it with no problems. You'll just have to experiment and see what you like the best.

[kc10]

I'm gonna have to try 16x one of these days just to see how good it looks. I bet it's nice.
About the filtering. The fact that tri and AF are not the same is irrelevant. They are both "Filtering" and from what the gurus tell me, the video card setting determines what is used,if the app pref is unchecked. However you (Bigshot) have stated before that you see a diffence with the tri on/off, so I can't argue with what you see.
ATI's AF incorporates trilinear filtering in performance or quality mode, I don't remember which(perfmc I think).
But from what I understand trying to enable bi or tri in the game when you have AF on is like trying to lock FPS at 30 and having a second slider to lock them at 20.You gotta choose one or the other.
The only thing I can think of is I use quality mode and I believe you use performance mode. Maybe the FS filtering actually increases the level of trilinear being used in AF performance mode.
That's all for now, Im getting dizzy,LOL

[Bigshot]

You're speaking of the ole bilineal (performance); trilineal (quality) debate. IT all depends on what game/sim you have. ATI uses a combination of trilineal/bilinear filtering. Some articles I've read have said that performance only uses bilineal. To that I say, it depends on what game/sim. Could very well be the case in popular First Person Shooters. All I can report on is what I see on the screen. Checking the trilinear box in the game makes a very noticeable difference on my screen running 16xAF in Performance mode. FS2k2 is the same way. Huge difference from bilineal filtering. The new 3.8 cats are reported to have game specific settings which will be a nice addition when going from one game to another with different AA & AF settings for each without the hassle of having to change em' through the control panel.

Nvidia card drivers force bilineal filtering irregardless of what the game wants to do. Not the case with ATI and I'll argue the issue till the cows come home if necessary. Like I say, try different settings and go with the one you like the best. In a flight sim, I prefer 16xAF Performance over 8xAF Quality mode. That's looking at the terrain in high res 1600x1200x32 on a 21" monitor. Same settings with FS2k2, CFS2, IL2, FS2, etc. Opinions may vary.