Anti-aliasing smooths jagged edges and reduces shimmering in games. Leave it enabled when you have enough GPU performance and want a more stable image. Turn it off—or choose a lighter, sharper mode—when you need maximum FPS, lower latency, or the game’s implementation causes blur and ghosting.
There is no single “anti-aliasing” setting with one performance cost. FXAA, MSAA, SMAA, TAA, TSR, DLSS, FSR, XeSS, DLAA, and SSAA solve aliasing in different ways.
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What is anti-aliasing?
A game renders continuous shapes—diagonal lines, curves, wires, fences, foliage and character silhouettes—onto a grid of discrete pixels. When an edge falls between pixels, it can look like a staircase. This is called aliasing, or “jaggies.”
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsSmall details can also flicker, crawl or shimmer as the camera moves because their coverage changes from frame to frame. Anti-aliasing estimates intermediate coverage or reconstructs information from multiple samples and frames, making edges look smoother and more stable. NVIDIA describes the basic effect as adding intermediate shades around stair-stepped edges, although that smoothing can also make an image appear softer. NVIDIA’s anti-aliasing overview explains the trade-off.
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Anti-aliasing does not increase texture resolution, improve anisotropic filtering or fix every visual artifact. Anisotropic filtering improves texture clarity when surfaces recede at an angle; anti-aliasing primarily smooths edges and reduces temporal instability.
Anti-aliasing versus upscaling
Traditional anti-aliasing smooths an image rendered at the target resolution. Upscaling or super resolution renders internally at a lower resolution and reconstructs the final output at a higher one.
Modern technologies often do both jobs. DLSS, FSR, XeSS and Unreal Engine’s TSR use temporal information and reconstruction to improve performance while also reducing aliasing. They may replace the game’s normal TAA or other AA method rather than operate alongside it. Avoid stacking multiple temporal filters unless the game specifically recommends that combination. Unreal Engine’s documentation describes these methods as part of the modern AA and upscaling pipeline.
Anti-aliasing methods explained
| Method | Main strength | Main weakness | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| FXAA | Very low cost | Can soften the whole image | Low-end hardware or high-FPS targets |
| MSAA | Clean geometric edges | Can be expensive and misses some transparent textures | Supported forward-rendered games |
| SMAA | Usually sharper than FXAA | Less effective against temporal shimmer | Clarity-focused settings |
| TAA | Good stability for foliage and fine geometry | May cause blur, ghosting and trails | Modern rasterized games |
| TSR | Temporal reconstruction plus AA | Quality depends on internal resolution and implementation | Unreal Engine games |
| DLSS, FSR and XeSS | Can improve FPS while reducing aliasing | May produce reconstruction artifacts | Supported modern games |
| DLAA | Native-resolution NVIDIA anti-aliasing | Uses considerable GPU performance | High-end systems with spare headroom |
| SSAA | Excellent broad image quality | Extremely expensive | High-end hardware or older games |
FXAA
Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing is a screen-space filter applied after the scene is rendered. It is generally inexpensive, but because it works on the completed image it can blur texture detail, fine text and the entire frame. It is useful when performance matters more than maximum clarity. NVIDIA documents FXAA among its driver-level controls.
MSAA
Multisample Anti-Aliasing samples polygon edges and can produce cleaner geometric boundaries than FXAA. Higher levels such as 4x or 8x usually cost more performance. MSAA may not adequately handle alpha-tested or transparent textures, including fences, grass, leaves and hair. AMD specifically notes this limitation in its MSAA guidance.
SMAA
Subpixel Morphological Anti-Aliasing identifies edge patterns and blends pixels according to those patterns. It is often a useful middle ground when FXAA is too blurry and TAA produces too much motion softness. Results depend on the game’s implementation. Unity documents its pattern-based approach here.
TAA
Temporal Anti-Aliasing combines the current frame with information from previous frames. It is often better than spatial filters at reducing foliage shimmer, crawling edges and subpixel aliasing. However, incorrect or incomplete motion information can create ghost trails, smearing and lost fine detail. TAA implementations require motion vectors, as Unity’s documentation notes, and quality varies significantly between games.
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TSR, DLSS, FSR and XeSS
These reconstruction methods can render below the display resolution and rebuild a higher-resolution image. Quality presets such as Quality, Balanced and Performance progressively reduce internal resolution. They can improve FPS when the GPU is the bottleneck, but may introduce shimmer, ghosting or loss of fine detail. DLSS requires compatible NVIDIA hardware and game support; FSR and XeSS have different requirements depending on their version and implementation.
DLAA is related to NVIDIA’s reconstruction technology but runs at native resolution rather than using a lower internal resolution. It can provide high-quality AA, but it is intended for systems with spare GPU headroom. NVIDIA discusses the distinction in its RTX technology documentation.
SSAA
Supersample Anti-Aliasing renders at a higher internal resolution and downsamples the result. It can improve many forms of aliasing, but the GPU must render substantially more pixels. AMD’s supersampling guidance describes the quality benefit and higher performance cost.
Should you turn anti-aliasing on or off?
| Situation | Starting recommendation |
|---|---|
| Jaggies are distracting and FPS is comfortably above target | Enable AA |
| The image shimmers during camera movement | Try TAA, TSR, DLSS, FSR or XeSS |
| The image is blurry or leaves ghost trails | Try SMAA, a sharper mode, moderate sharpening or AA off |
| Competitive game where latency and clarity dominate | Test AA off, FXAA, SMAA or the sharpest low-cost option |
| Low-end GPU cannot maintain the target FPS | Use AA off or FXAA |
| High-resolution display with barely visible jaggies | Lower or disable AA if the performance gain helps |
| Foliage, wires or fences shimmer | Try a good temporal or reconstruction method |
| DLSS, FSR, XeSS or TSR is enabled | Do not automatically add another temporal AA method |
| Image quality is more important than FPS | Try higher-quality AA or native-resolution reconstruction |
The right choice depends on your target frame rate, refresh rate, resolution, GPU headroom, genre and tolerance for blur. At 1440p and 4K, jaggies are often less obvious, but thin geometry and shimmer can remain visible. High resolution does not make anti-aliasing universally unnecessary.
How much FPS does anti-aliasing cost?
There is no reliable universal percentage. The performance impact depends on the GPU, resolution, game engine, rendering path, selected method, sample count, internal resolution and whether the game is GPU- or CPU-limited.
FXAA may have a small cost, while SSAA can be extremely expensive. Upscaling may increase FPS by lowering internal resolution, but the benefit depends on the game and workload. Higher MSAA levels generally cost more within that technique, but an “8x” setting is not automatically visually superior to TAA, SMAA or reconstruction.
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- Native resolution with AA off.
- The game’s recommended AA mode.
- The sharpest low-cost option.
- A temporal or reconstruction mode at Quality.
- Balanced mode only if more performance is necessary.
Check average FPS and frame-time consistency, then inspect foliage, wires, railings, characters, particles, text, reflections and transparent surfaces while moving the camera. A higher FPS number is not automatically better if the image becomes unstable or smeared.
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Best starting points by game and hardware
Competitive shooters
Prioritize stable frame times, low latency and target visibility. Start by testing AA off and the sharpest low-cost mode. If jagged edges or shimmer make distant targets harder to read, moderate AA may be worthwhile.
Open-world games
Foliage, wires and distant geometry commonly shimmer. TAA or reconstruction may work better than MSAA alone, although you should check for ghosting and excessive softness.
Racing games
Fast camera movement exposes temporal smearing. Compare modes while watching fences, track markings, vegetation and moving cars.
Low-end hardware
Use AA off or FXAA first. A low MSAA level can work efficiently in some games, but its results depend on the rendering path. Reduce other settings or resolution only after checking whether the AA mode itself is the bottleneck.
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High-resolution displays
Lower AA settings may be acceptable because pixels are smaller or more densely packed, but inspect thin geometry and movement rather than judging only a static screenshot.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to change anti-aliasing settings
Menu names vary, but the normal in-game path is:
- Open Settings or Options.
- Enter Graphics, Video or Display.
- Find Anti-Aliasing, Anti-Aliasing Quality, Upscaling or a vendor-specific option.
- Change one setting at a time and apply it.
- Use the same scene or benchmark for comparison.
- Test during camera movement, not only in a still image.
Some games expose only Low, Medium and High; others let you select individual methods. Disable motion blur while diagnosing AA softness, then restore it if you normally play with it enabled.
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Should you use driver-level overrides?
Use the game’s own settings first. Driver overrides may do nothing or conflict with modern DirectX 12, Vulkan, deferred-rendering or temporal pipelines.
For NVIDIA hardware, open NVIDIA Control Panel → Manage 3D settings, choose Global Settings or Program Settings, and normally leave anti-aliasing set to Application-controlled. NVIDIA documents these controls here.
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Why does anti-aliasing make games blurry?
- FXAA: broad screen-space filtering can soften the whole frame.
- TAA: accumulated history can reduce fine detail or create motion softness.
- Upscaling: a lower internal resolution may be mistaken for an AA problem.
- Motion blur: can make temporal AA appear worse.
- Sharpening: may restore clarity but create halos and artificial edges.
Try disabling motion blur, switching from FXAA to SMAA, raising an upscaler from Performance to Quality, or using moderate sharpening. Compare native-resolution TAA with Quality-mode reconstruction before disabling AA completely.
Common problems and fixes
AA off causes flicker
Thin geometry, foliage, specular highlights and transparency patterns may change coverage between frames. Try a temporal method rather than simply increasing MSAA.
MSAA does not fix foliage
This can be expected: MSAA primarily targets geometric edges and may not remove aliasing from transparent textures such as grass, fences and leaves.
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DLSS, FSR or TSR plus TAA looks too soft
The reconstruction method may already include anti-aliasing, or the game may be applying multiple temporal stages. Test the game’s recommended combination and avoid adding a second filter without understanding which setting replaces the other.
A driver override changes nothing
The game may control AA internally, use an unsupported rendering API or employ a custom temporal pipeline. Restarting may be required, but many modern games simply ignore driver-level overrides.
Final recommendation
Start with the game’s recommended temporal or reconstruction mode, preferably at Quality. If it looks stable and meets your FPS target, keep it. If the image is too soft or ghosts during movement, try SMAA, a sharper supported mode or native-resolution AA. If performance is insufficient, use a lighter AA mode or a lower reconstruction preset. For maximum responsiveness, test AA off—but keep it only if the resulting jaggies and shimmer do not make the game harder to read.
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