GPU Rating Categorization

[mysticjbyrd]

Does AMD and/or Nvidia consistently categorize the performance of their gpus with a hierarchy labeling system?

For instance, something like:

Low End: 950
Midgrade: 960 970
High end: 980 980 ti
Enthusiast: Titan X

Low End: 360 370
Midgrade: 380 390x
High end: 390 390x
Enthusiast: Fury Furyx

I am not saying these are equivalent, this is just a mock example.

 

[KaRLiToS]

GTX 980ti should be in enthousiast category and Titan X in enthousiast overpriced. (Niche maybe ?)

 

[96Firebird]

It is an ever-changing landscape.

 

[Blitzvogel]

It is an ever-changing landscape.

This.

What I consider low end, is not what someone else may. Infact I do not consider the GTX 950 "low end" at all, I would consider it "medium".

Low end to me would be something like a recent APU/IGP graphics or something like a GT 730. Even that could still be very arguable as the range of IGP performance is huge. Unfortunately, it's not as clear as it used to be when distinguishing product hierarchies. I'm almost against the idea of having a product at literally every price point since it just brings up more issues of "if I spend just a little more, I get X amount of performance delta".

 

[moonbogg]

I specifically remember they used to do that at least for their Quadro line. They were categorized like you mention. I don't recall them doing it for their GeForce line but I could be wrong.

 

[Seba]

Your list does not use the complete designation.

Current AMD graphics cards are called Radeon Ra bcc(X).

a designates the general card level and can be 5, 7 or 9
b designates the card generation (until now we have 2 and 3)
cc differentiates between various cards within the same generation and general level (higher number should mean greater performance)

X - optional (only present on some cards); designates a slightly better version (for instance R9 380X is better than R9 380, but not as good as R9 390).

R5 bcc - entry level, for users that just want a card that outputs video, also for HTPC and similar usage; not for gaming.

R7 bcc - mid-range cards that can be used with acceptable results (acceptable at least for some people) for gaming;

R9 bcc and now also R9 Fury - high end and "enthusiast" level cards.


For Nvidia:

GeForce GT abb or GeForce GTX abb(Ti)

GT class of cards is more or less the equivalent of R5 class from AMD (not for gaming).

GTX - cards (more or less) usable for gaming; covers the performance range of cards that AMD covers with two classes of cards (R7 and R9), so it not as indicative of the performance level as the R7 and R9 designation used by AMD are.

a - designates the card generation (we have 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 - the way that Nvidia counts)
bb - designates the card performance class (higher number means better card).

bb = 50 (Ti) or 60 (Ti) - mid range cards, good for gaming

bb= 70 (Ti) or 80 (Ti) and Titan cards - high-end and "enthusiast" level cards

Ti suffix, if present, designates a better version of that card (similar with X suffix on AMD cards). For instance GTX 750 Ti is slightly better than GTX 750, but not as good as GTX 760.


This is the general idea/in theory.

What you can not tell from this labeling schemes used by AMD and Nvidia is which are really cards from a new generation and which are just re-brands/re-labeled cards.

On mobile GPUs (used on laptops) the situation is even more confusing because of re-labeling and inconsistencies.