
The recent Steam Hardware Survey has unveiled significant shifts in the gaming landscape, highlighting trends in GPU popularity, operating system usage, VRAM capacity, and more.
GeForce RTX Series: 5070 and 5060 Cards Surge While RTX 4060 Laptop GPU Maintains Lead
Continuing its reign, the GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU remains the leading graphics card among Steam users, marking a modest increase in market share from 4.62% to 4.84%. This makes it the most significant change observed in the GPU segment this month. Hot on its heels are the GeForce RTX 5070 and 5060 series, which have also enjoyed notable climbs in their respective shares.
The RTX 5070 has emerged as the top card within the RTX 50 series, accounting for 1.69% of the market, followed closely by the RTX 5060 at 1.13%. Other noteworthy models include the RTX 5070 Ti with 0.91% and the RTX 5060 Ti at 0.89%. While specific models of the RTX 5060 Ti are yet to be detailed, indications suggest that the 16 GB variant is contributing significantly to its increasing popularity.
Furthermore, the RTX 5080 is gaining traction, although the RTX 5090 has seen only a marginal month-over-month change of 0.05%. Despite its growing popularity, the RTX 5060 Laptop GPU might establish itself as a serious contender, although reaching a market share exceeding 4% will require sustained effort over the coming months.
Shift from 8 GB GPUs; 16 GB Adoption Rate on the Rise

The trend towards lower popularity of 8 GB VRAM configurations continues, marking a 1.37% decline since August. Though still the most common VRAM setup, with a share of 33.66%, there is a clear inclination towards higher memory options. The 12 GB and particularly 16 GB variants are emerging as the favored choice, largely due to their prevalence in contemporary AMD and NVIDIA GPUs.
In fact, 16 GB GPUs experienced the most remarkable increase last month, gaining nearly 0.72% and now holding 7.52% of the market. This transition from 8 GB to 16 GB configurations among gamers is promising, though it appears that GPU manufacturers remain slow to adapt.
Decline of Windows 10 Share as Support Ends

With the official end of support for Windows 10 approaching on October 14, users are migrating to Windows 11 in larger numbers. As of September, Windows 11 has surged to 66.08% market share, reflecting a robust increase of 2.90% since August.
Rising Popularity of 8-Core CPUs Amid Decline in 6-Core Models

In the CPU market, 8-core processors are showing a promising upward trend, now claiming a market share of 25.28%, thanks to a gain of 0.87% from August. Although 6-core CPUs remain the most widely used, their share has dipped below 30% for the first time. Notably, 16-core CPUs are also experiencing growth and are becoming increasingly prevalent among high-performance users.
For comprehensive insights, visit the Steam Hardware Survey page.
For additional images and information, check out this source.
Leave a Reply