Quad-core CPUs, Nvidia GPUs and Windows 10 reign supreme in latest Steam Survey

[Shawn Knight]

Valve has published the results of its most recent Steam Hardware & Software Survey, providing some interesting insight into the gear used to play games on the popular digital distribution platform.

Diving right in, we see that AMD’s recently released Ryzen line of CPUs hasn’t had much of an impact among Windows gamers. In fact, AMD processor usage has fallen from 21.89 percent in February to just 19.01 percent as of June while Intel’s share has shot up from 78.07 percent to 80.92 percent over the same period of time.

In related results, the survey shows that usage of dual-core CPUs running Windows dropped 3.22 percent – from 44.80 percent to 41.58 percent – from May to June. During that same time, adoption of quad-core chips increased 3.38 percent, from 49.21 percent in May to 52.59 percent in June.

Nvidia continues to rule the roost as it relates to discrete graphics card usage. The survey reveals that 63.61 percent of GPUs are from Nvidia versus just 20.5 percent from AMD. Intel graphics, meanwhile, are used by 15.54 percent of Steam users – more than I would have guessed.

Digging a bit deeper, we find that as of June, the GTX 1060 was the most popular DirectX 12 card among Steam users at 6.29 percent market share followed by the GTX 750 Ti at 5.88 percent and the GTX 960 at 5.75 percent.

Gamers are also populating their rigs with more RAM these days. According to the survey, 38.90 percent of systems utilize 8GB of memory which is up 2.77 percent. All other lower capacities have declined in usage, the data shows. Systems with 12GB or more have also increased in share, up 0.96 percent to 23.06 percent overall.

Other quick-hit facts: 1,920 x 1,080 is the most popular primary desktop resolution at 48.77 percent share, 61.82 percent of systems have a microphone attached and 1TB or larger hard drives are most common at 35.90 percent. Usage of HTC’s Vive VR headset also outweighs that of the Oculus Rift with HTC enjoying 60.82 percent of the market share.

On the software side, it’s no surprise to see that 96.24 percent of users utilize some flavor of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Apple’s OSX is found on 2.95 percent of machines while Linux’s market share resides at just 0.72 percent.

What is noteworthy, however, is that adoption of Windows 10 64-bit has climbed 1.28 percent, now accounting for 50.33 percent of all Windows installs connecting to Steam. Windows 7 64-bit is the second most popular version at 32.05 percent followed by a massive drop-off down to Windows 8.1 64-bit at just 6.86 percent usage.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/70022-quad-core-cpus-nvidia-gpus-windows-10-reign.html

 

[hahahanoobs]

Yup, those are the brands, specs and resolution I'm running.
Imagine what that list would have looked like if sub 14nm x86 process technology wasn't so hard to achieve.

 

[Steve]

Yup, those are the brands, specs and resolution I'm running.
Imagine what that list would have looked like if sub 14nm x86 process technology wasn't so hard to achieve.

To be fair all the AMD GPUs are off working in the dirty mines

 

[The Tech Gen]

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.


As for CPU stats. Doesn't mean much to me. I run an I7, but holding out for threadripper. I can't stand price gouging intel anymore.

And before any fool starts kicking and screaming fanboy, these are my stats.

 

[psycros]

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.

AMD will manage to bungle Ryzen and Vega, and probably the same way they always do: with absolute garbage drivers and utilities.

 

[Steve]

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.


As for CPU stats. Doesn't mean much to me. I run an I7, but holding out for threadripper. I can't stand price gouging intel anymore.

And before any fool starts kicking and screaming fanboy, these are my stats.

Statistically it makes sense that the other platforms will deliver similar figures, really makes no sense that they wouldn't.

 

[ZackL04]

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.


As for CPU stats. Doesn't mean much to me. I run an I7, but holding out for threadripper. I can't stand price gouging intel anymore.

And before any fool starts kicking and screaming fanboy, these are my stats.

Vega wont be anything TOO special and obviously Nvidia already has an answer as the 1080 and Pascal architecture are already a year old. You forget that AMD does compete right now in the mid to low range market....but I dont see ANY 480/580 or 470/570 on that list....thats rediculous. More people using a gtx 660 than any RX card??

 

[OcelotRex]

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.


As for CPU stats. Doesn't mean much to me. I run an I7, but holding out for threadripper. I can't stand price gouging intel anymore.

And before any fool starts kicking and screaming fanboy, these are my stats.

How is it that Intel is gouging, especially at the 4770k range?

As Zack said above I wouldn't hold your breath on Vega making a huge increase in market share in a single generation. It's going to take multiple lines of competitive Amd cards to get closer to half the market.

 

[m4a4]

Well, that's pretty much my older laptop here.

Quad core cause that was good enough years ago lol.
Nvidia because even if the hardware isn't as great, the drivers are lightyears ahead of AMD drivers.
Windows 10 because it isn't as bad as everyone like to say it is.
12gb of RAM, and 1920x1080 (cause I don't really need anything better).

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.

AMD will manage to bungle Ryzen and Vega, and probably the same way they always do: with absolute garbage drivers and utilities.

Lol. Have a bit of faith man... and not the sort of faith that they'll unfailingly drag it through their buttholes. I tend to agree with you though.

 

[CrazyDave]

It's interesting to note though, that since Feb, 8 core CPU's have almost doubled in user count (Feb 0.24% to Jun 0.47%). It may be a small percentage of the overall users, but the growth percentage has no doubt been boosted by Ryzen 7's release.

 

[avioza]

I am surprised that anyone expected the majority of PC gamers to run out and replace their systems within 3-4 months of a new processor launch.

AMD has some nice products but still, this is going to take some time.

 

[OcelotRex]

It's interesting to note though, that since Feb, 8 core CPU's have almost doubled in user count (Feb 0.24% to Jun 0.47%). It may be a small percentage of the overall users, but the growth percentage has no doubt been boosted by Ryzen 7's release.

That's not necessarily true. Since it's a percent to total, the 4.1% loss from 2 CPUs in the same time frame had to go somewhere (mainly the 4 CPUs that's increased 4.5%) so raw counts may not have changed that much. Also you're forgetting the price drops that the 6700k/7700k experienced post Ryzen launch - it's far more likely to be new i7's and not Ryzen 7's when Microcenter is selling the 7700k for $279.99.

 

[OcelotRex]

I am surprised that anyone expected the majority of PC gamers to run out and replace their systems within 3-4 months of a new processor launch.

AMD has some nice products but still, this is going to take some time.

Lots were waiting to upgrade/build until Ryzen was released though. It was well known when they were hitting the market.

 

[Adhmuz]

More people using a gtx 660 than any RX card??

It would appear so yes, but wouldn't you be tempted to flip your RX card to a miner for more than you paid for it? I have a strong suspicion this is why they don't make the list, too many have ended up in mining rigs, resulting in a heavily favored chart for Nvidia.

 

[Puiu]

Seeing both the 4 core and 8 core CPUs going up while 2 cores went down is really important. People are finally upgrading their older PCs/laptops.
Microcenter having the 7700k and the 1700 at 280$ will definitely help in the future too. (although in europe these CPUs are still expensive )

What I really want to see is how much the 12/16 core % will be a year after Threadripper launches (although I doubt too many hardcore gamers will pick them up).

 

[dirtyferret]

Yup, those are the brands, specs and resolution I'm running.
Imagine what that list would have looked like if sub 14nm x86 process technology wasn't so hard to achieve.

To be fair all the AMD GPUs are off working in the dirty mines

...making $3 a day

 

[Uncle Al]

Standing on the sidelines .... watching this one play out ....... popcorn anyone?

 

[fadingfool]

I'm probably personally skewing the survey a bit as I have 4 PCs that I regularly login to steam from. All four are intel CPUs (three times i7s and one aging QX8200 core 2 quad). 3 have nVidia and intel onboard gpu's and one has an AMD 7750 card - and three of them are WIN 10 with the one Linux (mint) OS. Anyone else messing with steams stats?

 

[Jibberish18]

Chalk me up as GPU minority (Radeon RX-460). The rest of my system is in line with the other statistics. Mind you, I would have jumped on the Ryzen bandwagon had it not taken so long to come out and had they actually had Mini ITX motherboards available (What is it with giant motherboards?)

 

[ZackL04]

It would appear so yes, but wouldn't you be tempted to flip your RX card to a miner for more than you paid for it? I have a strong suspicion this is why they don't make the list, too many have ended up in mining rigs, resulting in a heavily favored chart for Nvidia.

But, the charts go back to February

 

[ZackL04]

Chalk me up as GPU minority (Radeon RX-460). The rest of my system is in line with the other statistics. Mind you, I would have jumped on the Ryzen bandwagon had it not taken so long to come out and had they actually had Mini ITX motherboards available (What is it with giant motherboards?)

https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16813138452

 

[Jibberish18]

https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16813138452

Yeah I was just looking at them on Newegg (The ASRock's look more interesting)

 

[Amet Monegro]

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.


As for CPU stats. Doesn't mean much to me. I run an I7, but holding out for threadripper. I can't stand price gouging intel anymore.

And before any fool starts kicking and screaming fanboy, these are my stats.

Vega wont be anything TOO special and obviously Nvidia already has an answer as the 1080 and Pascal architecture are already a year old. You forget that AMD does compete right now in the mid to low range market....but I dont see ANY 480/580 or 470/570 on that list....thats rediculous. More people using a gtx 660 than any RX card??

I don't trust in these statics...

 

[Dch48]

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.

AMD will manage to bungle Ryzen and Vega, and probably the same way they always do: with absolute garbage drivers and utilities.

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.


As for CPU stats. Doesn't mean much to me. I run an I7, but holding out for threadripper. I can't stand price gouging intel anymore.

And before any fool starts kicking and screaming fanboy, these are my stats.

Vega wont be anything TOO special and obviously Nvidia already has an answer as the 1080 and Pascal architecture are already a year old. You forget that AMD does compete right now in the mid to low range market....but I dont see ANY 480/580 or 470/570 on that list....thats rediculous. More people using a gtx 660 than any RX card??

I don't trust in these statics...

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.


As for CPU stats. Doesn't mean much to me. I run an I7, but holding out for threadripper. I can't stand price gouging intel anymore.

And before any fool starts kicking and screaming fanboy, these are my stats.

Vega wont be anything TOO special and obviously Nvidia already has an answer as the 1080 and Pascal architecture are already a year old. You forget that AMD does compete right now in the mid to low range market....but I dont see ANY 480/580 or 470/570 on that list....thats rediculous. More people using a gtx 660 than any RX card??

I don't trust in these statics...

Unfortunately this is only steam stats. We have no idea if gamers are leaving to play on Origin or Battle.net so we honestly don't know if it dropped or not. Would of been awesome to see Steam's player count in the same period of time.

Regardless Nvidia seems to have a lot to lose once RX Vega comes out. Will be the first GPU that can actually compete in a very long time. Their monopoly may be coming to end soon.

AMD will manage to bungle Ryzen and Vega, and probably the same way they always do: with absolute garbage drivers and utilities.

Nothing wrong with AMD's drivers.