The effect of the high pulse current and the duty cycle on the deposition rate in high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) is investigated. Using a Cr target and the same average target current, deposition rates are compared to dc magnetron sputtering (dcMS) rates. It is found that for a peak target current density $I_{T_{\mathrm{pd}}}$ of up to $570\mathrm{mA}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$ , HPPMS and dcMS deposition rates are equal. For $I_{T_{pd}}>570\mathrm{mA}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$ , optical emission spectroscopy shows a pronounced increase of the ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{+}∕{\mathrm{Cr}}^0$ signal ratio. In addition, a loss of deposition rate, which is attributed to self-sputtering, is observed.