The September 2024 Steam Hardware and Survey results are in, and they paint a clear picture of NVIDIA’s dominance in the PC, laptop, and handheld GPU market. The data reinforces recent trends, showcasing NVIDIA’s growing lead among PC gamers, now boasting a staggering 77.75% market share.
NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4060 series is the current star of the show, capturing the top spots with its various variants. The desktop GeForce RTX 4060 has climbed to the number two position, trailing only the GeForce RTX 3060. The GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU secures third place, while the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti desktop card claims fourth place. With the GeForce RTX 4070 also making the top ten list, and no sign of a mid-range or entry-level Radeon GPU until the 34th position, AMD’s presence is concerningly faint.
As a new generation of hardware emerges, AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture has failed to make a significant impact, leaving the company facing an uphill battle with its RDNA 4 offerings. The most popular Radeon options among gamers remain older cards like the Radeon RX 6600, RX 6700 XT, and the RX 580. RDNA 4 is targeted at the mid-range market, aiming to provide a competitive and efficient alternative. This approach makes sense given that 1080p remains the dominant resolution among gamers, making a 4K or 8K beast unnecessary for the majority.
However, AMD needs more than just affordability to compete against NVIDIA’s powerful ecosystem. NVIDIA’s DLSS technology, the growing adoption of ray-tracing in AAA titles, Frame Generation, and its robust software and driver suite present a formidable challenge. While AMD is finally embracing AI for its FSR upscaling and frame generation technology, and has collaborated with Sony to enhance Radeon ray-tracing, it’s still an uphill battle.
AMD plans to take the mid-range lead in the upcoming generation by releasing the Radeon RX 8700 XT and 8800 XT several months ahead of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5070. However, the September 2024 Steam Hardware and Survey results highlight the difficulty of gaining traction in a market dominated by green. It remains to be seen if AMD can effectively challenge NVIDIA’s stronghold.
