Last year when I took the same survey, I found the results to be very different to what they are today, and in a good way. It seems to me that interest in having a good PC has increased significantly. As you may note, this new survey only started 3 weeks ago, so things could look very different in a few months when more have taken it. Also for those who aren't aware, the survey is for people who have STEAM installed.
You can have a look at the standings here: http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html
System RAM
A year ago, most gamers had 512MB RAM. Today the biggest percentage has at least 2.0 GB RAM, which is heartening.
Processor Vendor
Last year it was AMD with 53% of the market, while Intel had 47%. Sadly so far AMD is at 43% while Intel is flying at 57%. It is obvious that the Core2Duo chip has a lot to do with this.
Physical CPUs
Or does it? Looks like most people still own single core processors, so that's weird actually. While dual core owners are up from last year to 35%, it is still not a huge rise.
edit:Having thought about it, it does make sense. Last year Intel users were at 47%, with the vast majority using P4s or whatever. This year, Intel users have gone up by 14%, while dual core processor owners have gone up by a slightly larger percentage... so it makes sense.
CPU Speeds
I think you are better off ignoring these particular stats, because CPU speeds mean jack all these days.
Video Card Driver Name
Same as what I remember last year. More people own Nvidia cards.
Video Card Description
Now this is what is absolutely brilliant. Last year, with the 8800GTX not out for more than a few months, it was the least popular video cards among the Valve customers. In fact even though there were powerhouses like the 7950GX2 and the 7950GTs around, the most owned video card was Nvidia's 6600, alongside ATI's X800.
Not a year later, and the biggest percentage goes to the 8800 series! This obviously includes the 8800GTX, the 8800GTS and of course the 8800GT, all sharing the first position. I have a feeling that the $220 priced 8800GTs and the $280 priced 8800GTSs have something to do with this.
It certainly explains how Crysis has been selling so well, with more and more gamers able to play the game at decent settings. It also shows that people are willing to pay money for quality video cards.
Unfortunately the list also shows how good marketing can sell a bad product. The 8600 cards, which are crap, are very high on the list at number 4. Last year's champ, the 6600 is down to no3, but still kicking. I have a feeling the owners of these cards have finally started to move on, with the release of the 8800GT. At no2 is the 7600, the budget card of the 7 series.
The video card list doesn't have any good news for ATi. Most of their older cards are still being used, though at a lower percentage. Unfortunately their newer cards are very low on the list, making one feel sympathy for ATi. At the same time, you can't help but think that it is partially their doing. What progress ATi was making with the 2900XT, was brought to a standstill when they were bought by AMD.
The fact is that on this list of 40 or so video cards, the 8800 series is on top at number 1, while their direct ATi competitors are near the bottom, only one place above the horrible Nvidia FX 5600. While the 8800s have had a lot more time on the market, the numbers for the 2900 series are disappointing.
Monitors:
76% of the gamers still use standard aspect monitors. Of those, 52% use 16-17'' displays, while 20 percent use 19'' displays.
The other 24% use widescreen monitors, and amazingly the biggest percentage of these (19%) use monitors that are over 24''. That's pretty significant. Gamers that have 22'' monitors come in at 14%, while those with 19'' widescreen monitors come in at 15%. So it seems that most gamers who go for widescreen monitors, end up going for the big ones.
I have no idea how the monitor stats compare to last year (as I wasn't paying attention to it then), but I still find it very interesting.
Bus Types
I remember last year, that the gap between AGP and PCIe users was surprisingly narrow. This year, it has widened with 63% of gamers using PCIe, while AGP gamers are down to 30%
VRAM
Not surprisingly, most gamers have 256MB of Video RAM. 27% of gamers have less than 256MB RAM.
Desktop Bit Depth / Primary Display Resolution
Not surprising that 97% of those surveyed use 32 bit colors on their desktop.
In terms of resolution, 32% of gamers are still using a 1024x768 desktop resolution. Gamers to use 1280 x 960 or more come in at 63%.
Audio Devices
Most gamers seem to be using on board audio these days. The new Creative X-Fi cards have caught on, but not enough to make a significant blip.
Total Hard Drive Space
With hard drives getting bigger, and so many users having more than one, this particular list needs to be more detailed. Needless to say, most people have at least 250GB hard drives.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall I am very pleased with the stats. It shows that more PC gamers are willing to spend money on their hobby, and this is good news for everyone.
You can have a look at the standings here: http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html
System RAM
A year ago, most gamers had 512MB RAM. Today the biggest percentage has at least 2.0 GB RAM, which is heartening.
Processor Vendor
Last year it was AMD with 53% of the market, while Intel had 47%. Sadly so far AMD is at 43% while Intel is flying at 57%. It is obvious that the Core2Duo chip has a lot to do with this.
Physical CPUs
Or does it? Looks like most people still own single core processors, so that's weird actually. While dual core owners are up from last year to 35%, it is still not a huge rise.
edit:Having thought about it, it does make sense. Last year Intel users were at 47%, with the vast majority using P4s or whatever. This year, Intel users have gone up by 14%, while dual core processor owners have gone up by a slightly larger percentage... so it makes sense.
CPU Speeds
I think you are better off ignoring these particular stats, because CPU speeds mean jack all these days.
Video Card Driver Name
Same as what I remember last year. More people own Nvidia cards.
Video Card Description
Now this is what is absolutely brilliant. Last year, with the 8800GTX not out for more than a few months, it was the least popular video cards among the Valve customers. In fact even though there were powerhouses like the 7950GX2 and the 7950GTs around, the most owned video card was Nvidia's 6600, alongside ATI's X800.
Not a year later, and the biggest percentage goes to the 8800 series! This obviously includes the 8800GTX, the 8800GTS and of course the 8800GT, all sharing the first position. I have a feeling that the $220 priced 8800GTs and the $280 priced 8800GTSs have something to do with this.
It certainly explains how Crysis has been selling so well, with more and more gamers able to play the game at decent settings. It also shows that people are willing to pay money for quality video cards.
Unfortunately the list also shows how good marketing can sell a bad product. The 8600 cards, which are crap, are very high on the list at number 4. Last year's champ, the 6600 is down to no3, but still kicking. I have a feeling the owners of these cards have finally started to move on, with the release of the 8800GT. At no2 is the 7600, the budget card of the 7 series.
The video card list doesn't have any good news for ATi. Most of their older cards are still being used, though at a lower percentage. Unfortunately their newer cards are very low on the list, making one feel sympathy for ATi. At the same time, you can't help but think that it is partially their doing. What progress ATi was making with the 2900XT, was brought to a standstill when they were bought by AMD.
The fact is that on this list of 40 or so video cards, the 8800 series is on top at number 1, while their direct ATi competitors are near the bottom, only one place above the horrible Nvidia FX 5600. While the 8800s have had a lot more time on the market, the numbers for the 2900 series are disappointing.
Monitors:
76% of the gamers still use standard aspect monitors. Of those, 52% use 16-17'' displays, while 20 percent use 19'' displays.
The other 24% use widescreen monitors, and amazingly the biggest percentage of these (19%) use monitors that are over 24''. That's pretty significant. Gamers that have 22'' monitors come in at 14%, while those with 19'' widescreen monitors come in at 15%. So it seems that most gamers who go for widescreen monitors, end up going for the big ones.
I have no idea how the monitor stats compare to last year (as I wasn't paying attention to it then), but I still find it very interesting.
Bus Types
I remember last year, that the gap between AGP and PCIe users was surprisingly narrow. This year, it has widened with 63% of gamers using PCIe, while AGP gamers are down to 30%
VRAM
Not surprisingly, most gamers have 256MB of Video RAM. 27% of gamers have less than 256MB RAM.
Desktop Bit Depth / Primary Display Resolution
Not surprising that 97% of those surveyed use 32 bit colors on their desktop.
In terms of resolution, 32% of gamers are still using a 1024x768 desktop resolution. Gamers to use 1280 x 960 or more come in at 63%.
Audio Devices
Most gamers seem to be using on board audio these days. The new Creative X-Fi cards have caught on, but not enough to make a significant blip.
Total Hard Drive Space
With hard drives getting bigger, and so many users having more than one, this particular list needs to be more detailed. Needless to say, most people have at least 250GB hard drives.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall I am very pleased with the stats. It shows that more PC gamers are willing to spend money on their hobby, and this is good news for everyone.
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