What is 'high end' is surely what gpu's fastest at a given point..
it only makes sense to argue otherwise if you qualify it as fastest per generation/series of cards (inc as yet unreleased and unknown cards) the 1080 beats the 980ti and Titan x in all but the most obscure tests so to call it mid range without qualification is daft. It may not be a worthwhile upgrade from a 980ti or titan x so waiting for 'full fat' Pascal or 'ti' Pascal may be a valid and sensible position but to claim people buying 1080's are buying a mid range and hence implicitly inferior product just makes you look silly
Why would saying the 1080 is midrange imply that it's an inferior product?? For instance the 8800GT was a midrange product and was one of the best cards ever, or the 460GTX was another amazing mid range card.
And yes it is faster than the 980ti and Titan x, but that has been true for nearly every mid range ever released, that it's faster than the previous high end.
Since the 28nm process, Nvidia have done really well moving the price ranges up, a simple name change and holding back the real high end for a few months has worked out perfectly for them. People are buying cards twice. They are buying the "high end" 980, 1080 when they come out and then buying the real high end Titan and Ti cards when they come out.
It's a pure master stroke by Nvidia. Because they are making a killing on the x80 cards. The 1080 and 1070 are based on the same chip, a mid range part called the GP104. The 1070 is going to be sold for $379, while the 1080 is $599. Does GDDR5x add $200 to the price??
And when the 1080Ti comes out (probably at a $699 price point) and it's way faster than the 1080, people will be like "wow, amazing performance, and look how cheap it is compared to the 1080!!" Just like they did with the 980 and 980Ti, not realising that they are comparing a mid range card to a true high end card.
People can pay what they want and buy what they want that's their business. Good luck to them. My concern with all this is that they keep raising the price for the mid range cards. And because they can get away with nearly anything, look at what they are trying to do with the Founders Edition!!
