What makes a GPU "High End" ?

[XeMario]

So I was talking to a colleague of mine and he made the claim that the AMD Radeon R9 270 was a high end video card. After a long conversation of him trying to talk me into saying the gpu was high end and claiming that it can play Far Cry 4 on Ultra at "Max Resolution"..whatever that means, I've decided to start a thread on what constitutes a GPU "High End".

 

I would like your input and correct me if i am wrong or i omit something. these are my two basic criteria (Not in any specific order):

 

1. The GPU must be able to run a majority of Current demanding games at Full HD on Max settings. 

 

2. The GPU must be able to achieve an average frame-rate of minimum 60fps as 60hz displays seem to be the industry standard. 

 

[HeyKitty]

The price tag.

[niofalpha]

It's fast, it's got bells and whistles, and it looks good.

 

The 270 is what I would call a debatable high end card.

[LegacyStijncat]

High-End is just a tier.

I'll give some examples with Nvidia cards since I don't know any AMD's

• Enthusiast (Titan series)
• High-End (GTX 980/970)
• Mid-tier (GTX 960)
• Low end (GT series)

[minibois]

So I was talking to a colleague of mine and he made the claim that the AMD Radeon R9 270 was a high end video card. After a long conversation of him trying to talk me into saying the gpu was high end and claiming that it can play Far Cry 4 on Ultra at "Max Resolution"..whatever that means, I've decided to start a thread on what constitutes a GPU "High End".

 

I would like your input and correct me if i am wrong or i omit something. these are my two basic criteria (Not in any specific order):

 

1. The GPU must be able to run a majority of Current demanding games at Full HD on Max settings. 

 

2. The GPU must be able to achieve an average frame-rate of minimum 60fps as 60hz displays seem to be the industry standard. 

Performance. And not only performance on 1080p now, because 4K (and 1440p) is a thing now.

As the R9 270 is not really able to play at 4K and 1440p and often can't max games at 1080p 60fps (Crysis 3, Witcher 3), it's not high end.

Still a good card, but it's mid end.

[Enderman]

970/980 is high end

980ti/titan x is enthusiast

anything below that is mid range or budget

 

the 270x is a mid range GPU

[Dzzope]

I would say sub $250-$300 is mid sub $150 is low.. ish.

[minibois]

High-End is just a tier.

I'll give some examples with Nvidia cards since I don't know any AMD's

• Enthusiast (Titan series)
• High-End (GTX 980/970)
• Mid-tier (GTX 960)
• Low end (GT series)

So AMD that would be kind of:

- R9 295X2

- R9 290(x)

- R9 280X

- R7 260X or lower.

[Zeke]

 

High-End is just a tier.

I'll give some examples with Nvidia cards since I don't know any AMD's

• Enthusiast (Titan series)
• High-End (GTX 980/970)
• Mid-tier (GTX 960)
• Low end (GT series)

• Enthusiast (Titan series)
• High-End (GTX 980/970)
• Mid-tier (GTX 960)
• Low end (AMD)

 

There ya go.

[dougdangger]

The price tag.

It's also a relative term.  To someone in a 3rd country, a Pentium 3 with a CRT display is a high end piece of technology.

[Bouzoo]

Am I the only one that puts GPUs in "subsections"? Like lower and upper range? 

 

Upper high / lower high

Upper mid  / lower mid

Upper low  / not worth buying 

[XeMario]

Am I the only one that puts GPUs in "subsections"? Like lower and upper range? 

 

Upper high / lower high

Upper mid  / lower mid

Upper low  / not worth buying 

So what cards would you classify as lower high?  and where would you place the r9 270 ?

[XeMario]

 

High-End is just a tier.

I'll give some examples with Nvidia cards since I don't know any AMD's

• Enthusiast (Titan series)
• High-End (GTX 980/970)
• Mid-tier (GTX 960)
• Low end (GT series)

 

 

 

So AMD that would be kind of:

- R9 295X2

- R9 290(x)

- R9 280X

- R7 260X or lower.

 

 

I agree with this, do you know if Nvidia or AMD officially classify their GPU's? 

[minibois]

I agree with this, do you know if Nvidia or AMD officially classify their GPU's? 

What do you mean with that? I don't think I understand what you are asking.

[TheRagingGamer]

 if it starts with R9  its high end, if it starts with a gtx 9xx its high end. 

[Bouzoo]

 if it starts with R9  its high end, if it starts with a gtx 9xx its high end. 

R9 280 and 960 are high end? How about no.

 

So what cards would you classify as lower high?  and where would you place the r9 270 ?

Hm...

 

I'd put a 270 as low mid. Lower high? 970/390X.

[XeMario]

What do you mean with that? I don't think I understand what you are asking.

 

Do they have a set classification for what they call high end or mid range, for example they would say the 970 is high end and the 960 is mid range

[minibois]

Do they have a set classification for what they call high end or mid range, for example they would say the 970 is high end and the 960 is mid range

Uhh.. Not really I guess.. In what way does Nvidia say that?

You could say all R7 cards right now are lower end.. And R9 is mid end and higher.. 

[XeMario]

Uhh.. Not really I guess.. In what way does Nvidia say that?

You could say all R7 cards right now are lower end.. And R9 is mid end and higher.. 

they don't was just giving a theoretical example of what i mean, but fair enough, thanks 

[Footy]

Personally I think as we are a bunch of enthusiasts virtually everything we look at is highend.

 

I like http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ for giving an idea of high med and low end cards.

[Nena Trinity]

It's fast, it's got bells and whistles, and it looks good.

 

The 270 is what I would call a debatable high end card.

It was, now its downgraded by AMDs ranking as R7 370...

[EvilWiffles]

A GTX 970 can't even play GTA 5 at ultra settings at stable 60 FPS. Is it still considered high end? 

[IrshaadH]

A GTX 970 can't even play GTA 5 at ultra settings at stable 60 FPS. Is it still considered high end?

Yes, many aaa games' ultra settings are meant to push the highest end cards to the limit.

[Guest]

 if it starts with R9  its high end, if it starts with a gtx 9xx its high end. 

I think you meant to write "if it starts with a GTX x80 Ti / x80 / x70 ...", because a GTX 780 Ti was high end a year ago.

[LegacyStijncat]

 

• Enthusiast (Titan series)
• High-End (GTX 980/970)
• Mid-tier (GTX 960)
• Low end (AMD)

 

There ya go.

 

Ooooooooooooo