Spec Ops: The Line Anti Aliasing NVIDIA

UPDATE:  After completing my PC upgrade I installed this again with the same settings as below for AA.  I noticed it would flicker every few seconds as mentioned below when I turned on SGSSAA.  The flicker is a result of the vsync cap being hit and then dropping a frame momentarily.  For some reason the MSAA that is forced bugs out for that one dropped frame causing any aliasing to appear for that split second, hence the flickering.  To fix this go back into Inspector and set a frame cap at your screen refresh rate -2fps.  So for mine it is capped at 58fps.  Technically this means that you could have SGSSAA turned on without having any flicker, but in my experiments it actually looked worse than 4xMSAA + FXAA.

Here are my settings:

Spec Ops has no in game AA options, and whilst FXAA works from the  NVIDIA control panel, it could use some MSAA. 

I've done a quick google search and nothing has pointed to the AA bit for ME2 and ME3.  So here it is (click for enlargement):

No AA

FXAA

 4xMSAA
















 4xMSAA + FXAA












Use AA bits 0x080100C5 for the Spec Ops profile in NVIDIA Inspector and add then force your choice of MSAA in.  I used 4x.  I also added FXAA to smooth out whatever was left.  Turns out much better than either by themselves.  Look closely at the flag pole and ropes to see the biggest differences.  DO NOT use SGSSAA as it causes a flickering mess of things.  If you need transparency anti aliasing just use 4x supersampled instead.

Busted light switch

Ok so in an attempt to allow my cm 690 II's light switch to affect my UV LED, I decided to solder and crimp some molex cables together with some supplies I got from moddiy.com

Ok so after removing and desoldering the initial connection I was fine.  Soldering the new connection was a PITA big time..  Reading and watching instructions and then trying to replicate it did not work.  The wire I was using wasn't heating up high enough for the tin to melt onto the connection.  I ended up having to melt the tin and try to manipulate this blob as it fell onto the connection I was trying to make.  Anybody who has soldered before will know that this is pretty much fail.

Anyway after a good 40 minutes I manage to get a decent connection that I was happy with.  I then shrunk the heatshrink and it looked great!  I couldn't be more pleased with how my first efforts looked.  Then I tested it.  SUCCESS!  The UV would now turn on and off at the click of the switch.  At this point I was feeling pretty good about myself.  I decided to try and plug the original fan light that the switch was meant for.  I felt a sudden jolt through my body and heard a zap bang at my fingertips. The cable fried.  It set on fire and I gave myself a mild electric shock.  Had I not been wearing my Havaianas it could've been much worse.

After I got the image of an actual fire inside my computer out of my head, I proceeded to place the switch back in its original slot.  Here is where shit starts to happen.  So the cable was too short to have the molex heads hang behind the motherboard tray.  OK no biggie I'll use a molex extension.  So I get it in there, and as I'm trying to get the top to close, I see the ground cable I crimped come loose.  F*CK....  At this point I'm already pretty over it.  I pull it out to attempt a recrimp.  I hear a little snap as I pull it but thought nothing of it yet.  As I sit down and prepare to fix the loose cable end, I see the little pin that I soldered the wire onto fall off.  That was the snap, and that was the end of my first endeavor into cable making.  The switch is now dead.  Until I can find a replacement, my lights will remain always on.  I may just switch to white LEDs.  Ah well.

Also I'm fine.  Just a little burn on my finger but apart from that I think the fear of seeing flames ignite inside my case was the most I suffered from this ordeal.

Here's hoping for a smooth installation when the Extreme11 arrives!

PCIe 3.0 vs PCIe 2.0 scaling

Interesting results from some uber high end builders in this thread:

PCIe 3.0 vs PCIe 2.0 SLI scaling

Just ordered in the rest of my pc parts.  Settled for (if you can call it settling =P) the Asrock Extreme11.  Just waiting for the shop to get it in then I'll go and pick it up.  Will post final pics of build when they're ready.  After seeing those results I'm glad I went with it.