Complete Analysis of Steam Hardware Survey: 2016 Edition..

Mid last year (August 2015), I made a thread where I analyzed Steam Hardware Survey in detail. Since then the stats have changed a lot, so it's time to analyze it once again. Early last year, Valve announced that Steam has reached 125 Million active users, so we'll be using those numbers to find out number of users using xyz hardware because unfortunately Valve has not shared new numbers with us for thae last 1.5 years.

Just in less than 6 months (From late 2014 to early 2015) we saw 50 Million new active users on Steam (75 to 125 Million), so who knows how many users there are now (Won't be surprised if they are around 200 Million or at least 175 Million). In worst case scenario, we know there are at least 125 Million active users on Steam, so we'll be using that data for calculations. And I'll be comparing Steam stats with PS4, since it is the best Console this gen, and comparison with weaker systems doesn't make sense.

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GPU

PS4's GPU is considered equivalent of:

• AMD 7870 (Link)
• nVIDIA GTX 660/660ti/580 (Link)

GPUs more powerful than PS4's GPU: 57.91% = 72.38 Million (Link)

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VRAM

• 1 GB: 33.89% = 42.3 Million
• 2 GB or More: 51.05 = 63.8 Million (Link)

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Direct X

• DX 12 GPUs: 70.45% = 88 Million
• DX 11 GPUs: 13.40% = 16.7 Million
• DX 11 or higher GPUs: 83.85% = 104.8 Million (Link)

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CPU

• 2 CPUs: 47.12% = 58.9 Million
• 4 CPUs or more: 47.7% = 59.6 Million
• Intel: 76.68% = 95.85 Million
• AMD: 23.32% = 29.15 Million (Link)

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Clock Speed

• Above 1.6 Ghz: 95.5% = 119.3 Million (Link)

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Windows (64 bit and Dx 11 or above versions only)

• Windows 10: 40.01% = 50 Million
• Windows 7: 34.09% = 42.6 Million
• Windows 8 and 8.1: 14.14% = 17.6 Million
• Total (64 bit and Dx 11 or above Compatible Windows): 88.24% = 110.3 Million (Link)

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Ram

• 2 GB: 7.46%
• 4 GB: 21.04%
• 8 GB or Higher: 50.63% = 63.2 Million
• 4 GB or Higher: 80.06% = 100 Million (Link)

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Most Popular

• Most Popular Video Card: nVIDIA Geforce GTX 970
• Most Popular Resolution on Single Monitor: 1920 x 1080
• Most Popular Resolution on Multiple Monitors: 3840 x 1080 (Link)

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Conclusion

Roughly 10% growth in high end hardware usage since August 2015, which means now not only there are more high end PCs than number of PS4s sold but most Steam users also own better hardware than the one in PS4.

Previously there were more high end PC users than number of PS4s sold but percentage itself was around 48%. Now in worst case scenario it's around 58% (Over 72 Million users) all things considered.

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I don't get what point is being made here?

it's the endless argument that most PC gamers can't run games better than ps4

Oh, I see. I didn't know this was a thing.

@Cloud_imperium:

But, but ... PS4

Ummmm... ok then.

I like it when people get rekt, this the time all imbeciles get rekt.

My god i love how you group all Vram for 2GB and up but don't do the same with less then 1GB trying to make the number smaller,48.97% have less than 2GB that,not to mention that many cards with 2GB are even weaker than the PS4 and most are not considerably more powerful than the PS4.

And the GPU one is even worse close to 60% with more powerful GPU GTFO man,lets star with the 750ti which isn't stronger how many like those did you add.?

The R9 200 series which start with the R270,the HD 8800,the 7900 series and the 7800 series all combined account for 5.7% the R300 doesn't even chart.

Between the 970 and 760 GTX both account for 8.05% but they are by far the most popular Nvidia GPU,after those most Nvidia GPU stronger than the PS4 doesn't even have 1%.

The 980 only has 0.99% not even 1%,980Ti 0.91 780 gtx 0.53%, 950 GTX 0.52%, 670GTX 0.49,660 ti 0.44%

As you can see there is no fu**ing way that GPU stronger than the PS4 are at 57% on steam,it just doesn't add up,unless you are counting allot of GPU under PS4 spec.

You add up all the Nvidia GPU i name there and doesn't add 13% you add AMD ones and doesn't even add up to 19%,and those i name are basically the most popular,after those the % are ultra low.

Listing GPU's more powerful than PS4 GPU with respectve memory configurations.

GTX 480 1.5GB

GTX 580 1.5GB / 3GB

GTX 590 3GB (mirrored 1.5GB)

GTX 660Ti 2GB / 3GB

GTX 670 2GB / 4GB

GTX 680 2GB / 4GB

Radeon 7870 2GB

Radeon 7870 LE (XT) 2GB

Radeon 7950 3GB

Radeon 7970 3GB / 6GB

GTX 760 2GB / 4GB

GTX 770 2GB / 4GB

GTX 780 3GB / 6GB

GTX 780Ti 3GB

Radeon R9 270x 2GB / 4GB

Radeon R9 280 3GB

Radeon R9 285 2GB

R9 290 4GB

R9 290x 4GB / 8GB

R9 295x2 8GB (mirrored 4GB)

GTX 950 2GB

GTX 960 2GB / 4GB

GTX 970 4GB

GTX 980 4GB

GTX 980Ti 6GB

TITAN 6GB

TITAN Black 6GB

TITAN X 12GB

GTX 1070 8GB

GTX 1080 8GB

Many PC gamers these days have laptops as well as desktops, which have much lower specs. Mine has an i3 + HD3000, but my desktop is much, much better...

Sweet, im still current with my build.

GPU = MSI GTX 750ti

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VRAM = 2g ddr5

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Direct X = DX 11

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CPU = AMD Athlon x4 845

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Clock Speed = 3.8GHz Max Turbo

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Windows (64 bit and Dx 11 or above versions only) = Windows 10 64-bit

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Ram = 8GB

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Harddrive = 240g SanDisk SSD Plus

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Streaming = Elgato HD60 Pro

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Max Resolution = Samsung 27in 1080p

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@rekonmeister: NVIDIA Fermi doesn't run DX12 titles....

yeah with its 10/10 exclusive that PC has never mentioned to get as per GS, not to mention a recent exclusive GOTY.

You're counting December. Count April. The numbers are higher.

@ronvalencia said:

@rekonmeister: NVIDIA Fermi doesn't run DX12 titles....

Loading Video...

Who cares when most tiles are Dx11?

My friend plays Forza and it stutters even on a 970.. Microshaft.

You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day, well if all goes smoothly.

Did I hear a scared mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo?

Well, no wonder cows are panicking for siding with a 900pStation made up of cheap ass tablet CPU and GPU barely matching a 570 from 2010.

Need a tissue?

No what i need is proof that 57% of PC have stronger than PS4 hardware on steam you fail to deliver that.

@rekonmeister said:

@ronvalencia said:

@rekonmeister: NVIDIA Fermi doesn't run DX12 titles....

Loading Video...

Who cares when most tiles are Dx11?

My friend plays Forza and it stutters even on a 970.. Microshaft.

You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day, well if all goes smoothly.

Your "My friend plays Forza and it stutters even on a 970.. Microshaft. You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day, well if all goes smoothly." statement doesn't address your posted video's argument.

Btw.

1080 falls within my tax period. LOL

My gaming PCs

AeroCool DS mATX box: Intel i7-4790K @ 4.4Ghz, 16GB RAM, MSI Radeon HD R9-390X (firmware mod'ed R9-290X factory OC). <----- My AMD box. 5760x1080 resolution Eyefinity

Tower PC: Intel i7-4770K @ 4.2 Ghz, 32 GB RAM, MSI TwinFrozr GeForce 980 Ti OC; <------- My NVIDIA box. 4K resolution monitor

My DX12 GPUs

7950-900(2012), 7970 1Ghz(2012), R9-290(2013), R9-290X OC(2014), 980 Ti(2015). Notice the pattern? I buy GPUs almost very year.

Guess what happens in 2016

@ronvalencia said:

@rekonmeister said:

@ronvalencia said:

@rekonmeister: NVIDIA Fermi doesn't run DX12 titles....

Loading Video...

Who cares when most tiles are Dx11?

My friend plays Forza and it stutters even on a 970.. Microshaft.

You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day, well if all goes smoothly.

Your "My friend plays Forza and it stutters even on a 970.. Microshaft. You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day, well if all goes smoothly." statement doesn't address your posted video's argument.

Btw.

1080 falls within my tax period. LOL

My gaming PCs

AeroCool DS mATX box: Intel i7-4790K @ 4.4Ghz, 16GB RAM, MSI Radeon HD R9-390X (firmware mod'ed R9-290X factory OC). <---------- My AMD box.

Tower PC: Intel i7-4770K @ 4.2 Ghz, 32 GB RAM, MSI TwinFrozr GeForce 980 Ti OC; <---------- My NVIDIA box.

I don't understand... somehow me buying a DX12 GPU means you need to show everyone here you have a 980Ti.

Posted video's?

My rig was last updated in 2010 LOL.

You wasted your cash to play games at 1080P LOL.

Meanwhile 2010 hardware can push 1080P maxed out or just under max with no issues.

You run a 980Ti at 1080P, i mean call everyone else dumb for owning lesser hardware until they feel it's the right time to step up to newer hardware, but you just like robbing yourself.

@Cloud_imperium I added the different cards and I came up to around 30 some percent. Nowhere near 57%.

@rekonmeister said:

@ronvalencia said:

@rekonmeister said:

@ronvalencia said:

@rekonmeister: NVIDIA Fermi doesn't run DX12 titles....

Loading Video...

Who cares when most tiles are Dx11?

My friend plays Forza and it stutters even on a 970.. Microshaft.

You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day, well if all goes smoothly.

Your "My friend plays Forza and it stutters even on a 970.. Microshaft. You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day, well if all goes smoothly." statement doesn't address your posted video's argument.

Btw.

1080 falls within my tax period. LOL

My gaming PCs

AeroCool DS mATX box: Intel i7-4790K @ 4.4Ghz, 16GB RAM, MSI Radeon HD R9-390X (firmware mod'ed R9-290X factory OC). <---------- My AMD box.

Tower PC: Intel i7-4770K @ 4.2 Ghz, 32 GB RAM, MSI TwinFrozr GeForce 980 Ti OC; <---------- My NVIDIA box.

I don't understand... somehow me buying a DX12 GPU means you need to show everyone here you have a 980Ti.

Posted video's?

My rig was last updated in 2010 LOL.

You wasted your cash to play games at 1080P LOL.

You stated "You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day, well if all goes smoothly" and I'm just returning the favor.

I work in the software industry hence I get tax benefits. If you haven't stated "You can cry when my 1080 arrives launch day", I would not stated my DX12 GPUs. For the record, YOU started personality based debates.

My AMD box

My NVIDIA box

My comments was against the video not you.

Not as bad as the 25% of steam that play in 1366x768...lol

Hell lets see how the big the % of people who play under 900p on Steam.

47.67% Holy shit....Hahahahaahaaa Those are under 900p...

125,000,000 - 47.67% = 65,412,500

Which mean that some 59,587,500 play under 900p on steam,almost 60 million people play under 900p on Steam,so what should we refer PC to since we know that because some games can't be play over 900p on PS4 that mean it is a 900pstation,so what does that make PC.?

The Master blur race.?

By steam own survey more people play in 1024x768 than those who actually own a 980 or 980ti..

Hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Now translate all this in human language...

Entire PS4 and XBONE install base play sub 1080P.

I have a 1080P screen and can DSR all the way up to 4K for those older games.

72 Million that's a lot more than PS4 owners and its only increasing.

Good job new consoles are coming really.

Note that AMD plans to offer cheap hardware with VR Ready green spec for everybody i.e. mainstream desktop PC, iMacs and consoles.

Developers are complaining about TAM for GPUs greater than 970 and R9-290X.

CPU is another area that needs fixing i.e. need to move the market towards i5/i7 class CPUs.

Pretty solid budget build. I think I'll recommend this to a couple of my friends who are interested in taking up PC gaming. But I'll probably change the GPU.

:)

However you want to spin it, a lot of people own powerful pcs for gaming and a large proportion (arguably a majority?) of people who seriously game on pc own pcs greater than or equal to the ps4. This is fact. Get over it.

@Heil68: The argument here it's not about software but hardware. To me it's all fine since I own all systems.

So multi-monitors amount to 0 percent? Single-monitors would only be part of the total not the whole thing. Man you suck at statistics.

I can do exactly what you did: 3840x1080 - 30.11% and 1920x1080 - 36.42% would be 66.53% with the largest two 1080p resolutions. That is at least 83million with 1080p resolution using your own bs, but it doesn't work that way as their is no ratio of single monitor to multi monitor.

On the whole the Steam survey isn't an overly accurate gauge. My gaming PC has an i7 4770K and a 980ti, my laptop is an AMD A10 with a massive 1360 x 768 screen res, not exactly a gaming machine but it does have Steam installed (it plays things like Wasteland 2 very well). One account, two radically different machines, now multiply that by what ever millions of PC gamers who own both high and low end hardware, you have an inherently flawed, cross section of hardware usage.

What it is quite good at, is giving a good indication of hardware up take and how it changes.

@tormentos What this should tell you is one account =/= one piece of hardware. Try thinking outside the box, just for once.

@GarGx1:

I have steam on a Win10 tablet with Atom CPU, and like you said can't ignore laptops. I don't think I've heard an explanation of how the survey polls to know what the data really says. I have the same Steam account on 3 different setups I would be curious to know which one is used.

@Cloud_imperium: Good thread bro but sadly you've forgotten one critical point:

Steam conducts a monthly survey to collect data about what kinds of computer hardware and software our customers are using. Participation in the survey is optional, and anonymous. The information gathered is incredibly helpful to us as we make decisions about what kinds of technology investments to make and products to offer.

Source

This means that you can't use the 125 million active accounts figure because not everyone of those people will have participated in the survey. I'm on Steam daily but I haven't participated in the survey since pre-2012 or so.

You have to do the survey yourself, it's totally optional. If you do the survey on your desktop PC then that's the one being used, if you do it on your tablet then that's the one that's being used. It sounds like you've never actually participated in the survey or else you'd know this. Especially since you can decide what info you wanna share, so you'd know this.

@shawty_beatz:

Have not. lol. Where's the option?

That's true but it's all we have though. Of course it's not going to be completely accurate.

When you extrapolate this rough 50% figure across all of pc gaming (not just Steam active, which is easily past 125M now), it puts it at 2x-3x Rigs superior than PS4s sold.

This directly matches up with PC's gaming hardware sales being double that of all 8 consoles combined last year.

Do you know how statistics and sample sizes work, and the point of surveys? I know this is SW and expect trolls to not have brains, but this is grade school level shit.

I read an article about Add-in Board sales YoY from '14 to '15 and there was massive growth. I believe 50 million total for 2015 with 970/390 being the most popular cards. They mentioned that in the late 90's AiB sales were upwards of 100 million/yr. Hopefully we'll see that sort of growth again.

Yeah, the GPU was a donation, i usually get AMD cards.

If it's "grade school level shit", then it's pretty sad that you don't understand it. I'll explain this to you so that you don't have to go back to grade school again.

The OP's numbers are all based on the 125 million Steam user number, in reality though, the hardware survey has to be manually transmitted to Valve and you'll only be able to complete it if you've opted into it in the first place. Thus the numbers in the OP are nowhere near accurate.

I know you're just some dumb alt, but please, use that brain that you supposedly have for further posts.

Didnt know that PC beating the PS4 in hardware was still news.

Doesn't take much to be more powerful than the X1/PS4 consoles, lol.

This is how it works:

Only a certain number of Steam accounts are selected for the hardware survey each time the survey comes around.

It's on an "opt-in" basis rather than "opt-out. No information is sent until you click through the survey window to submit the information. If you do not want to participate, you simply click cancel and no information is sent.

Source

So you're randomly selected for the survey and even then you still have to complete the whole process manually in order for your information to count, that's why basing your numbers on the 125 mil active Steam users is nowhere near accurate.

Statisticians use the best data they can find to build a functional model, as their data is always by definition imperfect. You don't discredit statistics by pointing out the flaws in their collection method, you provide better data and explain why your collection method is less flawed.

Is this some kind of damage control? This is a SW topic, the OP came to the conclusion that there are more high-end PC's than PS4's sold, which I pointed out was wrong. I provided factual evidence for this and that is all it needs to debunk the OP's topic.

Not to mention that there is no other data than the data depicted here, so by your logic we just accept the false claims in the OP without being allowed to point out the flaws.

OP made a claim, I debunked it, that's all there is to it.

This will be irrelevant when the Neo hits this year.