"Destroying" 1080p: Minimum vs Average FPS

Misanthrope · July 11, 2016

This is something that consistently bothers me and that for the sake of brevity many reviewers (virtually all of them in fact) keep doing which his guessing what's acceptable for a gamer at 1080p.

If I ask around any reviewers and even most forum members here I will hear lots of comments on how the RX 480 destroys 1080p. Yet this makes several assumptions:

1) The buyer expects to use the card for a relatively short period of time: 1 to 2 years tops.

2) The buyer expects to play not the most intensive games but more average looking games and ocaccionally a "heavy hitter" title

3) The buyer is ok with frequently going below 60 FPS and even 40 FPS for considerable lenghts on intensive scences.

4) The buyer is ok with high settings (not ultra settings) on intensive AAA titles

I am sorry but this isn't "destroying" 1080p at all. To me there's people who still game at 1080p but not casually i.e. I want to completely max out modern titles and maintain 60 FPS as the MINIMUM framerate you're gonna see.

Comparing the experience from a casual gamer running a 480 with say Witcher 3 with a combo of high settings and some in ultra will net you numbers consistently below 60 FPS. The game is just too demanding to max out all it can do (And this is not even counting Hairworks which I consider a curiosity yet ultimately useless feature that makes the hair look worst to me, more detail but more within the uncanny valley of things, TressFX was way better looking even if not nearly as detailed) at even 1080p. I had stronger cards than the 480 (a 290x) and for what I want out of 1080p I've found it to be just sub part for the task.

Now I get it: most people will only play battlefield and a few xbone ports and those will be far less demanding. But I still think the hyperlative of calling it "destroying" 1080p or being far too competent is thrown out far too frequently. Specially if you consider than people should be looking at a 3 to 4 year cycle of upgrades not 1 or 2 since it makes more economical sense to get a higher end card that can be used throughout a longer period of time than buying basicaly disposible midrange cards constantly. At least for an enthusiast that is.