Jagged/Flickering edges in all games

[K1ash3r]

(Not sure if this is the right category but anyway)
All my games were running fine and then suddenly I get this problem with all my games. Edges of objects are choppy and when I move the edges flicker, I get this problem in every single game.
Things I've tried to do to fix it

1. Format computer with win 7
2. Format computer with win xp
3.Install newest drivers
4.Install older drivers
5.Try a different monitor
6.Playing with different graphics options
7. I send my gpu for testing and i got it back saying its working fine

my specs are
xxx xfx 4870 HD 1gb
AMD 955
750W PC P&C

here are some ss from a particular game
1. http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p287/zane14785/Jagged1.jpg
2. http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p287/zane14785/Jagged2.jpg
3. http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p287/zane14785/Jagged.jpg

EDIT: some more ss
http://s46.radikal.ru/i114/0812/c3/a17cc8f8433f.jpg
http://s55.radikal.ru/i148/0812/bc/a821cc8afa7c.jpg

 

[iam2thecrowe]

its aliasing. you need to turn on Anti-aliasing in the game or in ati catalyst control centre to fix this. its not a problem its normal. Run the highest resolution your monitor can support also.

 

[K1ash3r]

its aliasing. you need to turn on Anti-aliasing in the game or in ati catalyst control centre to fix this. its not a problem its normal. Run the highest resolution your monitor can support also.

AA did help be a tiny little bit but the jagging and flickering of edges is still there. Also in some games such as GTA4 there isnt even an option to turn on AA. I dont even think AA is the problem because a while back games were working fine

 

[bystander]

It is aliasing. Anti-Aliasing is what is required to fix it. There are different levels of AA, and some games don't support it unfortunately.

Lately, as a result of console ports, a lot of game engines have poor to no AA options. Sometimes you can force it on from within the CCC. Sometimes you can't.

 

[bystander]

Although the pics you showed may not be examples, I've also found that a lot of the new techniques for adding details on objects/NPC's are immune to MSAA (multi-sample AA). MSAA will often fix jaggies around the outside of objects, but not within it's textures. Adaptive MSAA can help with those, and SSAA will also.

I don't believe your card can support MLAA, but that is a last resort for some of these console ports.

 

[K1ash3r]

It is aliasing. Anti-Aliasing is what is required to fix it. There are different levels of AA, and some games don't support it unfortunately.

Lately, as a result of console ports, a lot of game engines have poor to no AA options. Sometimes you can force it on from within the CCC. Sometimes you can't.

Im sorry if I didnt make my self clear..its kinda hard to explain. Lets take GTA 4 for example it has no AA option. Before, it was working fine and now suddenly its not. Its not an AA problem because it was working fine before. Same thing applys to all my games. even with the ones that have AA

 

[bystander]

Im sorry if I didnt make my self clear..its kinda hard to explain. Lets take GTA 4 for example it has no AA option. Before, it was working fine and now suddenly its not. Its not an AA problem because it was working fine before. Same thing applys to all my games. even with the ones that have AA

I'm sorry if I didn't make myself clear. It IS aliasing, and is fixed by anti-aliasing.

It is possible you had AA forced on within CCC before, and it's not now. That would explain the change, but that IS no doubt aliasing. Aliasing does move up and down objects as you change view or move. It looks just like the pictures you showed.

 

[bystander]

One last possibility, but less likely. You may have altered your resolution. If you are using a smaller resolution, you'll notice jaggies more. It doesn't change the fact they are there, but when they are smaller, you won't notice them as much.

 

[K1ash3r]

One last possibility, but less likely. You may have altered your resolution. If you are using a smaller resolution, you'll notice jaggies more. It doesn't change the fact they are there, but when they are smaller, you won't notice them as much.

its still the same wether i force it trough ati tray tools or not. also i play on maximum res that my monitor supports.

 

[bystander]

its still the same wether i force it trough ati tray tools or not. also i play on maximum res that my monitor supports.

Perhaps there is a problem with the version of ati try tools. Why not attempt to use the CCC? Also, some games will not allow it to be forced on without some other work around, such as renaming the .exe to something else (this is a per game issue, you'd have to look it up).

 

[iam2thecrowe]

You know there is something i have just thought of. monitors sometimes have a "sharpness" option. maybe someone has turned this up which would make your problem more noticeable. reset your monitor to defaults. Also go to CCC and turn anti aliasing to 4x and multisampling on also (not too familiar with ati's control panel so look for something similar) this is what you are getting http://www.gemaga.com/2007/12/28/taking-old-games-into-the-hd-era it is definitely aliasing.

 

[K1ash3r]

You know there is something i have just thought of. monitors sometimes have a "sharpness" option. maybe someone has turned this up which would make your problem more noticeable. reset your monitor to defaults. Also go to CCC and turn anti aliasing to 4x and multisampling on also (not too familiar with ati's control panel so look for something similar) this is what you are getting http://www.gemaga.com/2007/12/28/taking-old-games-into-the-hd-era it is definitely aliasing.

Yea the edges like look that picture at the top labeled aliased. I've done what you said even tried it with a different monitor and i still got the some problem. I really cant think of anything else to do to fix this.
EDIT: Also the edges flicker white when i move the camera because of the ingame lighting but Im assuming this is cause of the jagged edges. Your can clearly see this on trees.
EDIT: forgot to mention this but before when everything was working fine, even if AA was off it looked good. Im guessing theres some option I have to change in the 'core' of the system but I've formated my PC so everything should be set to defult.

 

[wh3resmycar]

Im sorry if I didnt make my self clear..its kinda hard to explain. Lets take GTA 4 for example it has no AA option. Before, it was working fine and now suddenly its not. Its not an AA problem because it was working fine before. Same thing applys to all my games. even with the ones that have AA

that's creepy.

you mean before even with gta4 not having any AA option at all it was working fine? you mean aliasing artifacts were non existent before.

set CCC to factory defaults. uninstall whatever 3rd party gpu software you have

i had a 4870 before, and i believe gta4 was the sistine chapel of aliasing artifacts. i would've make a screenshot of it with a gtx460 with much the same visual aliasing but i'm quite lazy to reinstall the damn game.

 

[wh3resmycar]

oh and btw, it could be your hdmi/mini hdmi cable (if you are using one) as well. i swear i've been cursing at nvidia lately for putting a mini hdmi port on the gtx460. at first it made me think that my card is fried, turns out the freaking mini hdmi port on the card is loose.

 

[bystander]

oh and btw, it could be your hdmi/mini hdmi cable (if you are using one) as well. i swear i've been cursing at nvidia lately for putting a mini hdmi port on the gtx460. at first it made me think that my card is fried, turns out the freaking mini hdmi port on the card is loose.

In terms of getting AA to work with GTA4, I can't find any way to force it by google search. The games engine doesn't allow it to work in Dx9, only Dx10, and they didn't make Dx10 available.

What other games are you having issues with?

 

[wh3resmycar]

^ me? i forgot to put the word "flicker" in there, that's what the silly little mini hdmi port is doing on my display.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

are you sure the resolution is turned up? im not talking about just in windows desktop, but in the game settings also. really, if you have tried everything that has been suggested i dont know what else to do. Setting correct native resolution and turning on AA should fix the issue, especially since you have tried reformatting different os's and drivers. maybe there is something wrong with the vid card???

 

[bystander]

^ me? i forgot to put the word "flicker" in there, that's what the silly little mini hdmi port is doing on my display.

Woups, I meant the OP.

 

[celpas]

that's creepy.

you mean before even with gta4 not having any AA option at all it was working fine? you mean aliasing artifacts were non existent before.

set CCC to factory defaults. uninstall whatever 3rd party gpu software you have

i had a 4870 before, and i believe gta4 was the sistine chapel of aliasing artifacts. i would've make a screenshot of it with a gtx460 with much the same visual aliasing but i'm quite lazy to reinstall the damn game.

Just cause 2 put gta 4 to shame in every possible way and proves beyond all doubt that gta 4 is badly optimised for pc.

@OP.I think the cause of your trouble is probably the driver.It has happened many times with nvidia drivers on my gtx 275 that upgrading the driver results in some more aliasing in games.This happens generally due to the fact that the ati/nvidia try to improve performance in games and to do this sometimes the image quality gets a little degraded.Try out previous drivers on your 4870 and see whether that helps.
PS-Instead of testing gta 4 test just cause 2 with 2XAA and 16XAF because even at 2XAA there are absolutely no jaggies in the game.

 

[K1ash3r]

In my case i didnt have to force AA in GTA 4 because it looked fine, but now it doesnt. I've send my card away to have it tested and there was nothing wrong with it.
Im using a 19" HDTV but I also tried it with a 17" monitor and im still getting same issue. Also im using a DVI to VGA adaptor on my gpu.
The thing is the problem appeared out of nowhere. THe only change I made prior to the problem appearing is install shogun 2 demo.( dont say to unistall it cause i foramted my PC twice now )

 

[bystander]

In my case i didnt have to force AA in GTA 4 because it looked fine, but now it doesnt. I've send my card away to have it tested and there was nothing wrong with it.
Im using a 19" HDTV but I also tried it with a 17" monitor and im still getting same issue. Also im using a DVI to VGA adaptor on my gpu.
The thing is the problem appeared out of nowhere. THe only change I made prior to the problem appearing is install shogun 2 demo.( dont say to unistall it cause i foramted my PC twice now )

What you are seeing is not a "problem" really. It's just now more visible. Now that it's visible to you, I doubt it'll be possible to go back to what you considered "normal". As someone else said before, perhaps you made everything sharp on the monitor, so the "problem" is more visible to you. Unfortunately, now that you are looking for it, it'll be impossible to ignore, even if you some how got your monitor to show it the way it was (probably blurry).

 

[K1ash3r]

What you are seeing is not a "problem" really. It's just now more visible. Now that it's visible to you, I doubt it'll be possible to go back to what you considered "normal". As someone else said before, perhaps you made everything sharp on the monitor, so the "problem" is more visible to you. Unfortunately, now that you are looking for it, it'll be impossible to ignore, even if you some how got your monitor to show it the way it was (probably blurry).

There has to be a way to fix this because i find all my games unplayable.

 

[celpas]

As I said try reverting to a older driver and if that doesn't work just ignore the problem and enjoy the game.Games are meant to be played and not looked at.This problem you are having is nothing to do with the video card failing.If your problem is only gta 4 remember that GTA was never about graphics but about gameplay.I still play gta san andreas and inspite of its aweful graphics I enjoy it and the funny thing is that with anti aliasing enabled in gta san andreas it actually looks better than gta 4

 

[K1ash3r]

As I said try reverting to a older driver and if that doesn't work just ignore the problem and enjoy the game.Games are meant to be played and not looked at.This problem you are having is nothing to do with the video card failing.If your problem is only gta 4 remember that GTA was never about graphics but about gameplay.I still play gta san andreas and inspite of its aweful graphics I enjoy it and the funny thing is that with anti aliasing enabled in gta san andreas it actually looks better than gta 4

the problem is with every single game
napoleon total war
bad company 2
GTA 4
crysis

I can clearly see the difference between now and before when everything was working fine.

 

[bystander]

Like we've said many times, that is aliasing. MSAA can fix the "problem". MSAA will not work with GTA4, but it will work with crysis, and probably some of the others.

Another note on aliasing. In Crysis, aliasing won't remove all jaggies. It won't work on the foliage or on the interior lines of objects, like even on the gun. It will work on the outside edges.