Nvidia's RTX 4080, 4070 Ti Finally Arrive in the Steam Hardware Survey

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Gamers continue to snub Intel Arc.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Nvidia's GeForce RTX 40-series (Ada Lovelace) GPUs are among the best graphics cards, and it looks like they're finally getting some love from gamers on Steam. The latest Steam Hardware Survey confirms that the GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti are starting to climb the ranks, albeit slowly.

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has shown the most significant growth out of the three Ada Lovelace graphics cards. The graphics card currently sits in the 77th position and improves its participation on the Steam Hardware Survey by 0.14%. The GeForce RTX 4080 occupies the 74th spot, but its popularity has only grown by 0.07%. Meanwhile, the GeForce RTX 4090, which debuted on the Steam hardware charts last month, has now settled in 53rd place on the ranking. That card's share increased by 0.08% over the month.

The GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards are admittedly far from breaking into the top ten most popular models. However, the big takeaway is that Ada is on the main page now. The GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti were previously on the API page.

At the same time, things haven't changed much at the top. The four-year-old GeForce GTX 1650 (Turing) is still the most prevalent graphics card for Steam gamers. The Turing-based graphics card recently dethroned the GeForce GTX 1060 (Pascal), which had been the reigning champ for quite a while now. Nvidia's GeForce RTX 30-series (Ampere) graphics cards have also gained significant traction. The GeForce RTX 3060 was the star of the survey, exhibiting a 0.72% improvement. The GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile also increased by 0.32%.

DirectX 12 Systems (Windows 10/11 With DX12 GPU)

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Graphics CardOCTNOVDECJANFEB%CHG
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16506.20%6.88%6.83%6.88%6.69%-0.18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10607.51%6.16%6.11%5.70%5.65%-0.05%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU3.77%5.10%4.45%4.92%5.24%0.32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20606.40%5.06%5.11%4.79%5.04%0.25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30605.96%3.73%4.27%4.04%4.75%0.72%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti4.61%4.95%4.77%4.69%4.39%-0.30%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti2.79%2.50%2.85%2.95%3.19%0.24%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30703.05%2.69%2.99%2.93%3.19%0.26%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30502.03%2.49%2.43%2.66%2.86%0.20%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER2.55%2.64%2.85%2.74%2.75%0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti2.50%2.71%2.63%2.61%2.55%-0.06%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10502.36%2.58%2.48%2.46%2.25%-0.22%
AMD Radeon Graphics1.81%2.13%2.17%2.26%2.17%-0.09%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30802.01%2.03%2.11%2.08%2.16%0.08%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10702.05%2.07%2.00%1.93%1.84%-0.09%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER1.89%1.74%1.75%1.68%1.69%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16602.77%1.62%1.68%1.47%1.56%0.08%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti1.41%1.28%1.37%1.38%1.48%0.10%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU1.01%1.27%1.24%1.32%1.40%0.08%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER1.32%1.22%1.27%1.27%1.30%0.04%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti1.21%1.41%1.33%1.32%1.27%-0.05%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20701.60%1.24%1.32%1.20%1.26%0.06%
AMD Radeon RX 5801.20%1.32%1.27%1.28%1.20%-0.07%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10801.28%1.24%1.20%1.16%1.13%-0.03%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU0.74%1.02%0.90%0.97%1.06%0.09%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU0.82%1.02%0.94%1.00%1.03%0.03%
AMD Radeon RX 5700.97%1.05%1.00%1.00%0.94%-0.06%
AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics0.96%1.04%1.04%1.01%0.92%-0.09%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti0.80%0.87%0.84%0.85%0.85%0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER0.88%0.90%0.89%0.90%0.84%-0.06%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 10300.71%0.80%0.81%0.79%0.74%-0.05%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9700.80%0.86%0.83%0.78%0.73%-0.05%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti0.77%0.79%0.76%0.76%0.70%-0.06%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9600.80%0.80%0.74%0.73%0.68%-0.05%
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT0.64%0.71%0.68%0.69%0.68%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER0.77%0.68%0.66%0.61%0.65%0.04%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti0.70%0.75%0.71%0.69%0.61%-0.08%
Intel UHD Graphics 6200.60%0.65%0.68%0.66%0.61%-0.05%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti0.64%0.61%0.63%0.57%0.58%0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20800.64%0.58%0.57%0.57%0.56%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30900.53%0.58%0.56%0.61%0.56%-0.05%
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT0.36%0.42%0.45%0.52%0.51%0.00%
AMD Radeon Vega 3 Graphics0.52%0.57%0.55%0.55%0.50%-0.05%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti0.50%0.52%0.49%0.47%0.48%0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 66000.31%0.40%0.44%0.47%0.48%0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 5500.46%0.50%0.50%0.48%0.46%-0.02%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU0.24%0.36%0.35%0.41%0.44%0.03%
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT0.37%0.41%0.40%0.41%0.42%0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti0.33%0.45%0.38%0.41%0.42%0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 7300.40%0.45%0.45%0.46%0.41%-0.06%
Intel HD Graphics 6200.38%0.41%0.44%0.42%0.38%-0.03%
Intel HD Graphics 5200.33%0.34%0.38%0.37%0.34%-0.03%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090---0.26%0.34%0.08%
NVIDIA GeForce MX2500.28%0.33%0.34%0.34%0.32%-0.02%
NVIDIA GeForce 940M0.31%0.35%0.35%0.34%0.31%-0.03%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M0.31%0.36%0.34%0.34%0.31%-0.03%
Intel HD Graphics 46000.27%0.31%0.31%0.32%0.28%-0.03%
Intel UHD Graphics 6300.28%0.31%0.32%0.32%0.28%-0.03%
NVIDIA GeForce MX4500.24%0.31%0.29%0.29%0.27%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP0.14%0.21%0.23%0.28%0.27%0.00%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 Graphics0.31%0.32%0.32%0.31%0.27%-0.03%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 7100.28%0.31%0.31%0.31%0.26%-0.05%
NVIDIA GeForce MX1500.26%0.30%0.30%0.30%0.26%-0.03%
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT0.22%0.25%0.24%0.24%0.25%0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT0.23%0.25%0.25%0.25%0.25%0.00%
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT0.18%0.21%0.22%0.23%0.24%0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce MX3500.21%0.25%0.25%0.26%0.24%-0.02%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU0.19%0.23%0.22%0.23%0.23%0.00%
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT0.20%0.22%0.23%0.25%0.23%-0.02%
AMD Radeon RX 5600.26%0.26%0.25%0.24%0.23%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design0.22%0.25%0.24%0.24%0.23%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT0.17%0.20%0.21%0.22%0.22%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9500.24%0.25%0.24%0.23%0.22%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080---0.15%0.22%0.07%
NVIDIA GeForce MX1100.20%0.22%0.23%0.22%0.21%-0.01%
AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics0.09%0.13%0.13%0.18%0.21%0.03%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti---0.06%0.20%0.14%
NVIDIA GeForce MX3300.18%0.21%0.20%0.21%0.20%-0.01%
Intel HD Graphics 55000.20%0.21%0.22%0.22%0.20%-0.02%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M0.20%0.23%0.22%0.21%0.20%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 4800.19%0.21%0.20%0.20%0.19%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce MX1300.18%0.20%0.20%0.20%0.19%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 7500.19%0.21%0.20%0.20%0.19%-0.01%
AMD Radeon R7 Graphics0.19%0.22%0.22%0.20%0.18%-0.02%
AMD Radeon RX 590 Series0.19%0.20%0.19%0.19%0.18%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 4700.16%0.18%0.17%0.17%0.16%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M0.14%0.17%0.18%0.18%0.15%-0.02%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 6500.16%0.18%0.18%0.18%0.15%-0.02%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9800.17%0.18%0.17%0.15%0.15%0.00%
AMD Radeon R5 Graphics0.16%0.18%0.18%0.18%0.15%-0.02%
Intel HD Graphics 5300.13%0.14%0.15%0.17%0.14%-0.02%
Intel HD Graphics 6300.16%0.17%0.17%0.17%0.14%-0.02%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 6600.14%0.17%0.17%0.15%0.14%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT0.06%0.08%0.11%0.13%0.14%0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 57000.13%0.14%0.14%0.14%0.13%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti0.14%0.15%0.14%0.14%0.13%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT0.06%0.08%0.10%0.12%0.13%0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 4600.13%0.14%0.13%0.13%0.13%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 7600.13%0.15%0.14%0.13%0.13%0.00%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 10 Graphics0.12%0.13%0.13%0.13%0.13%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with Max-Q Design0.12%0.13%0.12%0.12%0.12%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce MX2300.11%0.12%0.12%0.12%0.12%0.00%
AMD Radeon RX 68000.07%0.08%0.09%0.10%0.11%0.01%
AMD Radeon RX Vega0.11%0.12%0.12%0.11%0.11%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce 920M0.11%0.12%0.12%0.12%0.11%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti---0.14%0.11%-0.03%
NVIDIA GeForce 920MX0.10%0.11%0.11%0.11%0.10%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti0.09%0.10%0.10%0.10%0.09%-0.01%
Intel UHD Graphics 6000.10%0.10%0.10%0.10%0.09%-0.01%
AMD Radeon R5 M3300.09%0.10%0.10%0.10%0.09%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 6300.09%0.10%0.10%0.10%0.09%-0.01%
AMD Radeon R7 M4450.09%0.10%0.10%0.10%0.09%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce 840M0.09%0.09%0.10%0.10%0.09%-0.01%
AMD Radeon R9 380 Series0.09%0.10%0.09%0.09%0.08%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M0.08%0.08%0.08%0.08%0.08%0.00%
Intel HD Graphics 44000.08%0.09%0.10%0.10%0.08%-0.02%
AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series0.09%0.10%0.09%0.09%0.08%-0.01%
AMD Radeon HD 8500 Series0.08%0.08%0.09%0.09%0.08%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 4500.07%0.07%0.07%0.08%0.07%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 7400.07%0.07%0.07%0.07%0.07%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 6100.06%0.06%0.07%0.07%0.07%0.00%
AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series0.08%0.08%0.08%0.08%0.07%-0.01%
AMD Radeon Pro 4600.08%0.08%0.08%0.07%0.07%0.00%
AMD Radeon R4 Graphics0.07%0.07%0.08%0.07%0.07%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 7700.08%0.08%0.07%0.07%0.07%0.00%
AMD Radeon R7 300 Series0.08%0.08%0.08%0.08%0.07%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M0.07%0.08%0.08%0.08%0.07%-0.01%
AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile Graphics0.08%0.09%0.09%0.09%0.07%-0.02%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU0.04%0.06%0.06%0.07%0.07%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX0.07%0.08%0.08%0.08%0.07%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M0.06%0.06%0.06%0.06%0.05%0.00%
AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT0.01%0.02%0.03%0.04%0.05%0.01%
Intel HD Graphics 6100.06%0.07%0.07%0.07%0.05%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 6600M0.04%0.06%0.06%0.06%0.05%0.00%
AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series0.07%0.08%0.07%0.07%0.05%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti0.07%0.07%0.07%0.07%0.05%-0.01%
AMD Radeon HD 8800 Series0.07%0.08%0.08%0.07%0.05%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M0.04%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.00%
AMD Radeon R5 M4350.03%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M0.04%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.00%
AMD Radeon R9 390 Series0.04%0.06%0.06%0.06%0.04%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 6800M0.03%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.00%
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000-0.01%0.01%0.02%0.04%0.02%
AMD Radeon RX 64000.02%0.03%0.03%0.04%0.04%0.00%
AMD Radeon R9 200 Series0.06%0.06%0.06%0.06%0.04%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 6400.04%0.06%0.06%0.06%0.04%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce 930MX0.06%0.06%0.06%0.06%0.04%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.00%
AMD Radeon Vega 11 Graphics0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce 930M0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M0.03%0.04%0.04%0.03%0.03%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU----0.03%0.03%
AMD Radeon Vega 6 Graphics0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 7450.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.00%
AMD Radeon 5350.03%0.04%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.00%
AMD Radeon R7 200 Series0.03%0.04%0.04%0.03%0.03%0.00%
AMD Radeon 540X Series0.03%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.03%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX 55000.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20500.02%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.00%
AMD Radeon R3 Graphics0.04%0.04%0.04%0.04%0.03%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M0.03%0.04%0.04%0.03%0.03%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 7800.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 7200.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
AMD Radeon 5300.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
AMD Radeon R2 Graphics0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
AMD Radeon R5 3400.01%0.02%0.01%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 6800.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce 610M0.01%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
AMD Radeon 540 Graphics0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630---0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti0.02%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.02%-0.01%
AMD Radeon HD 8500M0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 4300.02%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.02%-0.01%
AMD Radeon HD 8600 Series0.02%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.02%-0.01%
AMD Radeon RX590 GME0.01%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
Intel HD Graphics 5100.02%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.02%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 4400.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
AMD Radeon R7 M3400.02%0.03%0.03%0.03%0.02%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 6700.02%0.03%0.03%0.02%0.02%0.00%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M0.02%0.02%0.03%0.02%0.02%0.00%
AMD Radeon RX 6700S-0.01%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M0.02%0.02%0.03%0.02%0.02%0.00%
Intel HD Graphics 60000.01%0.01%0.02%0.02%0.01%-0.01%
AMD Radeon 550X0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU----0.01%0.01%
AMD Radeon R9 M3600.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
AMD Radeon R9 Fury Series0.01%0.02%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA Quadro K620-0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655-0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 4600.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA Quadro M1000M--0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 4200.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
AMD Radeon R7 240 Series0.02%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.01%-0.01%
AMD Radeon R6 Graphics0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 5200.01%0.02%0.01%0.02%0.01%-0.01%
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 6400.01%0.01%0.02%0.02%0.01%-0.01%
AMD Radeon HD 8600M Series0.01%0.01%0.02%0.02%0.01%-0.01%
AMD Radeon R7 M260 Series0.01%0.02%0.02%0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM---0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost0.01%0.01%0.02%0.01%0.01%0.00%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 6200.01%0.02%0.02%0.02%0.01%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 5600.02%0.02%0.02%0.01%0.01%0.00%
Intel HD Graphics 6150.01%0.02%0.02%0.01%0.01%0.00%
AMD Radeon HD 7600M Series0.01%0.01%0.01%0.02%0.01%-0.01%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M-0.01%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.00%
Other0.84%0.82%0.85%0.85%0.83%-0.01%

On the other hand, AMD doesn't have any representation in the top ten. The best performer seems to be what Steam labels as "AMD Radeon Graphics," which probably groups up all the different AMD iGPUs that didn't qualify elsewhere. Unfortunately, it has stagnated and only showed a -0.09% variation over the month. The Radeon RX 580 (Polaris), which came out in 2017, is the only long-standing AMD graphics card on the Steam Hardware Survey. The aging performer is down at the 23rd position with a 1.2% share.

AMD's last-generation Radeon RX 6000-series (RDNA 2) products revealed modest gains. The Radeon RX 6600 XT and Radeon RX 6600 improved their shares by 0.01%. Although the Arc A770 and Arc A750 have been out for some time, Intel has yet to appear on the graphics card ranking on Steam. As a result, we suspect that Intel Arc likely has less than 0.01% participation. The same goes for AMD's latest Radeon RX 7900-series (RDNA 3) graphics cards, which arrived after Nvidia's Ada-powered offerings.

The 1080p (1920x1080) resolution (64.6%) remains the prevailing choice. However, Steam gamers are starting to get into higher resolutions. Steam's statistics show that the 1440p (2450x1440) resolution grew 1.27% over February.

Regarding processor trends, 67.17% (up 0.04%) of Steam users own Intel processors, whereas 32.8% use AMD chips. Hexa-core processors (33.42%) are the leading configuration among Steam gamers. As for operating systems, gamers continue to favor Windows 10 (62.33%), but Windows 11 (32.06%) adoption is gradually improving. Keep in mind, however, that not all Steam gamers participate in the survey.

Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • PlaneInTheSky
    The four-year-old GeForce GTX 1650 (Turing) is still the most prevalent graphics card for Steam gamers.

    The average PC gamer basically has a system that has the performance of a PS4 from 2013.

    And it is clear most PC gamers can not afford a full system upgrade that would rival a PS4 Pro, let alone a PS5. Not only is the 1650 still the most popular PC GPU, the 1060 3GB and 1050Ti are still extremely popular too.

    You can basically argue that the majority of PC gamers have stopped upgrading or switched to consoles. The remaining PC gamers likely play indie games now, or older less demanding titles that still run on their systems, you can clearly see this from game sales figures.

    The fact so many PC gamers run very old hardware, has to do with Nvidia and AMD's outrageous GPU prices.

    This cost is also related to the fact that PC don't have a unified architecture like consoles and ARM have. When a PC gamer buys a GPU, they are buying a second PC. GPU on PC have their own controllers, memory pool, power management, cooling, etc. That drives up the cost like crazy for PC, the GPU alone costs as much as a console. Managing 2 different memory pools also introduces lots of performance bottlenecks along the way, where PC can't load assets into video memory as fast as consoles. PC bandaids like DirectStorage need to be introduced, yet PC games continue to struggle with stuttering.

    PC gaming is really in shambles right now. You have the outrageous cost of GPU, tons of PC gamers who can't afford upgrades, the shader compile stuttering on PC, asset load stuttering from a lack of unified memory, developers that don't care about the platform and release horrible ports, etc.
    Reply
  • tamalero
    PlaneInTheSky said:
    The average PC gamer basically has a system that has the performance of a PS4 from 2013.

    And it is clear most PC gamers can not afford a full system upgrade that would rival a PS4 Pro, let alone a PS5. Not only is the 1650 still the most popular PC GPU, the 1060 3GB and 1050Ti are still extremely popular too.

    You can basically argue that the majority of PC gamers have stopped upgrading or switched to consoles. The remaining PC gamers likely play indie games now, or older less demanding titles that still run on their systems, you can clearly see this from game sales figures.

    The fact so many PC gamers run very old hardware, has to do with Nvidia and AMD's outrageous GPU prices.

    This cost is also related to the fact that PC don't have a unified architecture like consoles and ARM have. When a PC gamer buys a GPU, they are buying a second PC. GPU on PC have their own controllers, memory pool, power management, cooling, etc. That drives up the cost like crazy for PC, the GPU alone costs as much as a console. Managing 2 different memory pools also introduces lots of performance bottlenecks along the way, where PC can't load assets into video memory as fast as consoles. PC bandaids like DirectStorage need to be introduced, yet PC games continue to struggle with stuttering.

    PC gaming is really in shambles right now. You have the outrageous cost of GPU, tons of PC gamers who can't afford upgrades, the shader compile stuttering on PC, asset load stuttering from a lack of unified memory, developers that don't care about the platform and release horrible ports, etc.


    I actually wonder the distribution per country.
    Would EURO, ASIA and NA nations have much higher end videocards?
    Reply
  • SunMaster
    I think maybe "Moore's Law is Dead" is onto something. There is a humongous number of gaming/internet cafes in Asia. They keep getting logged on with new users all the time, skewing the percentages.

    He talks about it here H5lELVqb_J0:180View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5lELVqb_J0&t=180s
    Reply
  • P1nky
    SunMaster said:
    I think maybe "Moore's Law is Dead" is onto something. There is a humongous number of gaming/internet cafes in Asia. They keep getting logged on with new users all the time, skewing the percentages.

    This is one of those myths that doesn't want to die. Yes, there was a problem with overcounting machines from internet cafes, but Valve fixed that in 2018!
    Reply
  • renz496
    PlaneInTheSky said:
    And it is clear most PC gamers can not afford a full system upgrade that would rival a PS4 Pro, let alone a PS5.

    i don't think so. some people have the money even to buy the highest end hardware but PC gaming is all about flexibility. for some people what's important is they can play the game. you don't need high end rig to do that nor 4k monitor

    PlaneInTheSky said:
    You can basically argue that the majority of PC gamers have stopped upgrading or switched to consoles. The remaining PC gamers likely play indie games now, or older less demanding titles that still run on their systems, you can clearly see this from game sales figures.

    i don't know why you came with such conclusion. just because you see many people complaining about it on the internet meaning that is the stand of majority of people out there. like we saw the kind of hate nvidia get on the internet for the past 20 years and yet their market share keep getting higher instead of lower. and if you look at nvidia the most recent financial which is not affected by crypto their gaming revenue actually end up being much better than they had in late 2019 (which also not being affected by crypto). if pc gamer play more indie games right now it is not because their rig are completely incapable of playing triple A games but more like triple A games that coming out are not really that exciting. that's why we have lots of remake now.

    PlaneInTheSky said:
    The fact so many PC gamers run very old hardware, has to do with Nvidia and AMD's outrageous GPU prices.

    this probably only true for those that like to upgrade often. but this is not the primary reason why many pc gamer still use their older hardware. happen personally to me before where i think there is no point buying newer stuff when the hardware i got at the time provide me enough good experience. that's why i end up holding to my 2500K for 7 years. my GTX970 i did not feel the need to upgrade until i run horizon zero dawn on it. 1650 end up being the most popular GPU right now on stream should be a proof that price is not really the factor why people did not upgrade.

    PlaneInTheSky said:
    PC gaming is really in shambles right now

    not the case at all.
    Reply
  • SunMaster
    PlaneInTheSky said:
    PC gaming is really in shambles right now.

    I don't think it is, it's just people are cautious with upgrading. The majority of users don't want nor need a high end system. I upgraded my system to a 5950x system 18 months ago. Well aware am4 was at the end of its life I got a new Gigabyte Aorus Master x570 for less than $300. I bought a 2nd hand 6900xt (and a 2nd hand 3090 for my son) in september. I was upgrading hardware from 2015. My old rtx 970 from 2015 had no problems running aaa titles like elden ring or Horizon Zero Dawn, but I was not happy with framerate nor details.

    The fact that pc systems more evolve instead of revolutionize itself every 2nd year like it did in the 90s make a PC more viable for a long run than in the past. Most PCs can have their ram upgraded if needed, or add storage or even upgrade their CPUs - for a (relative small) cost. By the time you want/need an upgrade you can buy cheap used components.

    Just because everyone and his mother don't build new high end systems every 3rd year, like they perhaps did in the past, doesn't mean PC gaming is in shambles.

    It could be though, over time, if the current pricelevel on GPUs and motherboards are the new standard.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    My GPU is tree years old now and no need to upgrade for at least tree more years!
    PC gaming is doing just fine! 1060 is rather good gaming GPU still, so why upgrade? When it does not work anymore, then it may be time to upgrade to something like AMD 6400 and Nvidia 2060.
    The point is PC gaming does not need expensive GPU. PC gamer may want to have one, but that is very different thing!
    And even at current prices Nvidia 4000 series is selling. Not as well as when there were corona epidemic and crypto currency was havoking everything, but the gpus are not selling badly. The companies were just not considering that crypto booom would end (again) and most people allready did have GPU good enough. Nobody should buy $2500+ GPUs and still those are selling.
    PC gaming is doing fine, it is doing very fine actually. 6 years old GPU is good enough for gaming, peoples has hundred of games in Steam (that they have no time to play).
    If luxyry GPUs like 4070ti and above are expensive. Nobody forces to buy those. And as I did say. Even those sell well enough.
    Reply