Steam, a massive gaming platform on Windows, holds monthly hardware surveys that show how the different specifications of Steam users change. While Nvidia’s GTX 1650 usually remains at the top, it has since been dethroned. So, let’s discuss the key results of the Steam September 2023 hardware survey and which GPU has come out on top.
RTX 3060 Becomes the Most Popular GPU on Steam
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is the most used GPU on Steam. According to the survey, it is used by 6.10% of all users. The second spot goes to GTX 1650, and the third spot goes to GTX 1060. The RTX 3060 (mobile GPU) used in laptops is also quite popular on this Steam Hardware Survey (September 2023). 3.72% of all Steam users have gaming laptops with the aforementioned Nvidia graphics card.
Talking about the RTX 3060, this is Nvidia’s mainstream offering, and the survey shows its inherent popularity. By packing in 12GB of GDDR6 RAM, 10X better ray-tracing performance than the GTX 1060, and the latest features & architectural improvements, it looks like Nvidia has convinced many to buy its 60-class of Nvidia RTX 30 Series GPUs, aka the RTX 3060.
The dominance of RTX 3060 among the Steam userbase, along with the previous spot held by the GTX 1060, shows that most gamers on Steam prefer the 60-class of Nvidia GPUs, which are the company’s mid-range offerings. The RTX 3060 is highly competent in 2023. Even its performance is not very far from the new RTX 4060 unless the DLSS 3 performance is considered.
So, what about Team Red (AMD)? About 14.79% of Steam users have an AMD graphics card in their system. The RX 580 is the most popular dedicated GPU by AMD on Steam, with about 0.92% of users having the GPU installed on their systems. AMD Radeon Graphics, aka the integrated graphics on Ryzen mobile processors, are used by 1.83% of all players.
Survey Shows Most Gamers Prefer Nvidia
According to the Steam monthly survey, Nvidia GPUs hold a 77% share of Steam’s user base. This shows that Nvidia’s products are present in most user’s systems. Team Green’s GTX 1060 held the #1 spot for quite some time. Somewhere in the middle, the mid-range GTX 1650 also gained a ton of userbase.
The RTX 4060 dropped earlier this year as a successor to the RTX 3060. Still, the former has steadily climbed the charts because of its affordable pricing. This has made the RTX 3060 the most used graphics card on Steam. While you’re here, check out our RTX 4060 Ti review (8GB), which dives into new features such as DLSS 3 & AV1 Encoding.
Let’s discuss another aspect revealed in the Steam Hardware Survey of September 2023. It shows that 16GB RAM has become a standard (51.33% share). While 8GB RAM can be used in 2023, newer games aren’t optimized well for that. Nonetheless, about 14.39% of Steam players still have 8GB RAM in their systems. To get out of the 8GB group, follow our guide on upgrading your desktop PC RAM or even laptop RAM here.
So, what are your thoughts on the Steam Hardware Survey of September 2023? Let us know about your current system’s specifications and your plans to upgrade them in the comments section below.
Featured Image Courtesy: Valve, Nvidia
