What just happened? Valve's latest Steam survey has arrived. Throughout February, AMD saw a rare decline in the number of participants using its processors, and it was an excellent month for the RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, which is now the most popular Ampere product in the chart.
AMD has had a rollercoaster in the CPU section of the Steam survey these past few months following a lengthy run that saw constant increases. Team red's share dipped in December, went back up in January, and has now fallen again, albeit only by -0.04%, meaning it stays above the 30% mark with a 30.92% share. But are we seeing more of Alder Lake's influence on the chart?
It was another excellent month for Ampere in the GPU section, especially the RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, which we love. Not only was it the best performer with an increase of +0.29% but is now the highest RTX 3000-series card (8th place) thanks to its 2.35% user share. The desktop RTX 3060 was the second-best performer, while the RTX 3050, 3070 Ti, and RTX 3060 Ti also saw significant gains.
On the main GPU chart, one has to wonder if the GTX 1060 will ever be pushed off the top spot. It's been over four years since the Pascal card stole the crown from the GTX 750 Ti, yet it was still the fourth-best performer last month with a +0.20% gain, cementing its position at the top. The RTX 2060 continues to pile on the pressure, though, with a +0.21% increase.
The main GPU chart
Elsewhere, Windows 10 has now fallen to the point where it's found on just over three-quarters of participants' machines as Windows 11 climbs above 15%. The Oculus Quest 2 is absolutely dominant in the VR category, holding a 47% share, 33% more than the second-place Valve Index HMD, and 1920 x 1080 remains the most popular resolution, used by 67% of people who took part.