Valve has released its latest Steam Hardware Survey for July 2026. The data confirms that the PC hardware market continues to evolve: Nvidia maintains undisputed leadership, but interesting shifts are occurring within the GPU segment, while users are massively transitioning to larger video memory capacities.
Low Competition: Nvidia vs. Everyone Else
The situation in the graphics accelerator market has remained unchanged for several years. Nvidia GPUs ("the greens") hold a dominant share of 72.77% of all Steam systems. Their closest rival, AMD, holds only 18.74%, while Intel occupies a modest 8.08%. The gap between the leader and the followers remains critical.
Within the Nvidia family, a generational shift is observed. For a long time, the GeForce RTX 3060 remained the most popular accelerator with a 3.71% share, but its position has begun to waver. It is being replaced by the new RTX 5000 series. Specifically, the GeForce RTX 5060 reached 2.85% (+0.42% month-over-month), while its senior version, the RTX 5060 Ti, hit 2.26%. Notably, the most popular accelerator among the flagship "5000 series" became the GeForce RTX 5070, capturing 0.53% of the market.
The Era of 8 GB Memory is Over
One of the most significant events of the month was a shift in VRAM preferences. For the first time, models with 16 GB of VRAM became the most common option, taking 25.9% of the market. This happened at the expense of 8 GB models, whose share dropped to 25.32%. Thus, the 8 GB standard, which dominated the previous decade, has officially yielded the lead to more capacious solutions. There is also a growing popularity of graphics cards with 12 and 24 GB of memory.
Processors and Memory: Transition to New Standards
Changes also affected central processors. For the first time, 8-core CPUs became the most mass-market choice for gamers, reaching a 27.85% share. Traditionally popular 6-core processors are losing ground, dropping to 27.52%.
The situation with RAM also demonstrates growing requirements. 16 GB remains the most popular volume (40.97%), but the share of systems with 32 GB is steadily growing and has reached 36.93%. The gap between these two standards is rapidly narrowing.
Operating Systems and Monitors
In the software segment, Windows 11 has firmly established itself as the dominant system. As of July 2026, it is installed on 70.26% of gaming PCs, which is 0.5% more than last month. The share of Windows 10 continues to fall, standing at 23.3%. Linux and macOS occupy niche positions at 4.01% and 2.32%, respectively.
User visual preferences are also changing. Full HD resolution (1920x1080) remains the most common (51.1%), but its share is steadily declining. Conversely, 2560 x 1440 (2K) resolution is gaining popularity, reaching 21.46%. The share of monitors with 4K resolution stands at 4.95%.
