In the latest snapshot (14w29b) Mojang added optimizations that include "Vertex Buffer Object" and a new faster chunk loading system.
With this chunks load at lightning speed and in the right order! With that change, I thought I would try to see how it would perform if I went past max view distance (possible by changing the number in options.txt). So I decided double the distance to 32 chunks and took a screenshot of Youkai Mountain (pictured above).
This is apparently just the beginning of optimizations to the game before the final release of 1.8. I certainly hope they consider doubling the max render distance in game if it is possible to :)
