At 2XAA in Antalus at 1024x768 the 9800 Pro is 15% faster then the 9700 Pro and up to 19% faster at 1280x1024. In Suntemple the 9800 Pro is up to 24% faster at 1280x1024. Inferno shows up to a 20% increase in performance at 1024x768. Both the 9800 Pro and 9700 Pro outperform the GeForceFX 5800.
At 4XAA in Antalus we see up to a 23% improvement in performance at 1600x1200 and 1280x1024 compared to the 9700 Pro. In Suntemple we are seeing around a 25% increase in performance in 4X AA compared to the 9700 Pro. We see around a 20% improvement in Inferno.
At 6XAA in Antalus we see about a 10% improvement overall. In Suntemple there is close to a 20% increase in performance at 1280x1024. There is a 15% improvement in Inferno, except for 1600x1200 which actually came in .6 FPS slower. I re-ran the test three times and each time got the same score for that resolution in Inferno.
So far this card is killer in improving Anti-Aliasing performance over the 9700 Pro. Obviously there are advancements in the 9800 Pro that are not simply tied to the 17% core speed jump.
The 9800 Pro simply wins the Anti-Aliasing performance crown in all these tests compared to GFFX and 9700 Pro. If you are unsure about that, we can throw a few more graphs at you.