Is 4x MSAA or SSAA necessary at 4K?

[Death Prodigy]

My GPU setup, which is 2-way GTX 780 Ti SLI, will be enough to pull off most games at 4K with maximum settings at 4x MSAA with very smooth framerates, around 40fps and above.
However, most of the issue comes to the most demanding games like Metro Last Light or Crysis 3, when the framerate drops to 30fps, which is still very much playable, but not smooth. If I removed the 4x MSAA, I would probably hit around 45fps and above. So, is 4x MSAA really necessary and worth the performance hit at 4K?

 

[enemy1g]

I believe as you go higher in resolutions, you need less and less AA due to having more pixels. So with a 1080p screen, AA would be needed to retain excellent picture quality, while 1440-4k would need less, if any AA

 

[toddybody]

While subjective, I think the lowest amount of AA (TXAA, MSAA...etc) is a vast improvement over none. That said, increased amounts often have diminishing returns on fidelity and fps. Also, I'd use the least resource intensive AA out there...IIRC, TXAA through the control panel has a low system impact.

I'd say try removing it...and judge for yourself if the improved fps is work the potential aliasing. You can also try benchmarking with AA through the program, or forced through nVidia Control Panel to see what works best

 

[toddybody]

I believe as you go higher in resolutions, you need less and less AA due to having more pixels. So with a 1080p screen, AA would be needed to retain excellent picture quality, while 1440-4k would need less, if any AA

Ive always heard that, but cant attest to it all the time. I game at 2560x1440...and I still can see aliasing on native res. As said, base AA (lowest setting) on high res usually looks great and keeps frames high

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

FXAA is the least intensive mode of AA available. It will make a subtle difference, even in 4K.

 

[wanderer11]

I have a 2560x1440 monitor and other than the fps difference I can't really tell a difference between 8x or 2x MSAA in practically everything. I doubt it will be necessary at 4k unless you have a huge monitor and sit super close to it.