What does "Main stream" mean?

[Carlos1010]

Hi all,

So going around tech vids and websites I always go across the term "Main Stream". Sometimes it refers to CPU's and GPU's. but the problem is that I have no clue what it means and I can't seem to understand the definition on the web. Mind giving me a hand? Thanks in advanced!

[Electronics Wizardy]

Midrange, Common

 

For cpu sockets, lga 115x, no 2011

[Hydrogen1803]

I believe it means commonly used hardware, such as Intel Core processors or AMD processors. 

[xephoneration]

I approach this from a philosophy of language view. Whenever main stream is being used it seems to correlate with what is current/what is being used by majority 

[Carlos1010]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Midrange, Common

 

For cpu sockets, lga 115x, no 2011

 

1 minute ago, Hydrogen1803 said:

I believe it means commonly used hardware, such as Intel Core processors or AMD processors. 

So lets say that the GTX 970 is the most common GPU, does that mean that is is a mainstream GPU?

[Katsunaka]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Midrange, Common

 

For cpu sockets, lga 115x, no 2011

Yes this.

 

When they say main steam they're saying the parts that are most commonly bought by the average gamer. 

[Delicieuxz]

It means 'adopted by the masses.'

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Carlos1010 said:

 

So lets say that the GTX 970 is the most common GPU, does that mean that is is a mainstream GPU?

Yep, but there are no clear lines. Id argue the 950,960,970 are mainstream, the 980 and titan are enthusast or highend(apply this to most generations.

[sgloux3470]

"main stream" means that it's within the price/performance range to appeal to the most people.  So for example with GPU's the vast majority of the market is willing to spend $150-200 on a graphics card.  Generally this includes cards that run popular games (League of legends, Counterstrike, Overwatch etc) really well while still pulling off other titles on high/ultra settings no problem.  Cards in the $300-400 range are considered high end and anything more expensive is enthusiast level.  Cards cheaper than $100 are mostly pieces of shit that have video output ports on them. (Considered low end/entry level for third world countries)  For CPU's this pretty much just refers to i3's at the moment, which provides the best balance of price/performance in the current market.  

[aisle9]

2 minutes ago, Carlos1010 said:

Hi all,

So going around tech vids and websites I always go across the term "Main Stream". Sometimes it refers to CPU's and GPU's. but the problem is that I have no clue what it means and I can't seem to understand the definition on the web. Mind giving me a hand? Thanks in advanced!

Readily accessible components you can find easily and not have to take out a second mortgage to purchase. It's tough to put dollar values on it because what's mainstream for you might be way above or way below what I could afford. In general, if I were to look at CPUs and GPUs, here's the stuff I'd consider to be "mainstream"

 

GPU:

480, 470, 460, 1060 6GB, 1060 3GB, 1050 Ti, 1050 (anything lower falls into the "budget" range for me)

 

CPU:

i3-6100, i5-6400, i5-6500, i5-6600

 

One could make a pretty convincing argument for stuff like the G4400, R7 240 and GT 730 being "mainstream" because of the sheer number out there in use. Hell, Dell still ships prebuilts with crappy rebadged GT 430 cards (labelled as GT 730s) running underneath everything from an i3 up to an i7. Do you know how many of those PCs are out there? If you were to tell me based upon that that the GT 730 was mainstream, I'd have a hard time giving you a firm "no". The most common definition of mainstream here is something that's accessible to the typical enthusiast, like the RX 480, not necessarily the GTX 4--errr--730 that Dell drops into the PC that your mom, your dad, your best friend, their best friend, their cousins, their cousins' cousins and the President picked up on sale for $649 on Amazon Prime Day.

[DWN2]

It's a constantly sliding window of gear that typically changes every Oct-Dec when new gear comes out. This site does a good job of showing an example. For most, the range in green/yellow is 'main stream'. 

[xGGAx]

I think this is what you are looking for:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=define+mainstream

[DunePilot]

In PC building it's usually in regard to socket platform. Generally there are a line of CPUs and chipset which are more "enthusiast" or professional grade which share the socket type with professional server hardware. Then there are cheaper more "mainstream" lines which are for the general consumer which will feature sometimes faster clock speeds and quicker refreshes. Sometimes their sockets won't be in use as many years as the "professional" sockets are because the socket type for that hardware is in use much longer because of hardware agreements on server gear. LGA 2011v3 and LGA 1366 are your two best examples of this.

[Carlos1010]

4 minutes ago, xGGAx said:

I think this is what you are looking for:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=define+mainstream

Nice little website 

[Delicieuxz]

21 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Yep, but there are no clear lines. Id argue the 950,960,970 are mainstream, the 980 and titan are enthusast or highend(apply this to most generations.

The GTX 980 and Titan were high-end last GPU generation. They're mid-range, this generation.

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

The GTX 980 and Titan were high-end last GPU generation. They're mid-range, this generation.

There still highend cards, just last gen. They have the full memory bus and a large die. They will always be a big chip, but won't be as fast and the new parts.