How do your games look from 1680x1050 to 1440x900 or less?

Don't believe what gnarbish maroons will tell you about non-native resolution graphics.

End.

Since the focus of most games isn't reading large amounts of text, they look fine at lower resolutions. Textures won't look quite as sharp but they won't look bad by any stretch.

Its Bill GAtes

Never do anything but native res. EVER.

Take a hit on some of the extra settings over below native res.

It makes everything fuzzier. And as lower the resolution gets the fuzzier it becomes.

And also the less accurate the controls get (for RTS titles for me at least).

Uhuh, and while we're at it let's open our windows during a tornado and put the tailgate down on our pickup to save fuel.

It's the same hokey bull.

First thing to realise is...

There's no right answer! We all have different tastes and different things that we consider to be 'good graphics'. Lets offer our opinions to help this guy out and not try to knock down others.

Good, now, secondly...

I'm going to add myself to the native res camp. I'd rather take the other settings all the way down if only to get native res. On a CRT, I wouldn't bother, but on an LCD it's a must for me, as scaling pixels up to fill several pixels leaves a nasty blur that takes away from the quality.

Yes, AA 'blurs' the picture, and that's great for getting rid of the pixel stagger, and I switch it on when I can, but lowering the resolution just makes things feel hazy. Very distracting.

Anyway, that's my take on it. I'd be less concerned about being at 1680 or 1440, and more concerned with being at native res, whatever that would be. (Oh, and having VSync switched on, but that's a different topic...!)

Personally I think this is something that changes from game to game. Some games look better on minimum settings but native resolution, other games look better with a lower resolution and more effects turned on.

If the game has lots of text keeping native resolution tends to look better, if you are in a fast fluid game that has little in game text or very large text then often lowering the resolution a little and having more effects turned on is a better solution.

The overall answer is it depends on the person and the game they are playing. The only answer that is wrong is the one that says that their solution is always the best

Edwin

P.S. Being geeky, the fluid dynamics of having your tail gate up creates a bubble of air in the rear section meaning the high speed air flows over it (relatively) cleanly but once you open the tailgate this effect disappears causing more turbulence and lower gas mileage. So driving with the tailgate up will save you more gas then with it down.