Survey: only 12% of gamers use dual core processors

[mpjesse]

According to the automatic survey by Valve Software, about 50.36% of Steam users have computers running Intel processors, whereas AMD-based systems are utilized by 49.64% of all 847 thousand of gamers who have Steam installed.

The vast majority of gamers – 87.39% - still have systems with one processing engine, however, already 12.56%, or about 106 thousand of users at press time, own a system that has two physical central processing units (CPUs), including those who have dual-processor machines as well as PCs based on dual-core microprocessors. About 0.05% of users – or 416 people – have a system with four cores, while 2 gamers are lucky enough to own a personal computer with 8 CPUs.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20070118143553.html

While the conclusion of their survey is undeniable... i question whether these numbers are conclusive for all gamers. I suspect the number of dual core users is higher across the board.

What do ya'll think?

EDIT: I added a poll

 

[ajfink]

A poll here is a bit skewed as many people here are enthusiasts who prefer to stay nearer to the cutting edge when they can afford it.

 

[qcmadness]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20070118143553.html

While the conclusion of their survey is undeniable... i question whether these numbers are conclusive for all gamers. I suspect the number of dual core users is higher across the board.

What do ya'll think?

Not a really surprising result:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20051201235525.html

Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s vice-president vice president of digital enterprise group indicated to attendees of A.G. Edwards computer/microprocessor technology conference that shipments of performance dual-core processors will exceed shipments of single-core chips starting from the Q3 2006, a few quarters from now.

 

[qcmadness]

My own experience: I still do not use any dual-core computers. But I will upgrade my desktop to dual-core AMD processor after x2 3600+ drops below $100.

 

[mpjesse]

What do ya'll think?

No surprise.

The popular games on Steam, HL2, CS and such, are not very demanding, and people can run games fine with older P4s and Athlons.

This was my thought exactly. I'd like to see the percentages on a game like Oblivion.

That's why I'm not 100% convinced this survey is all that accurate. But who knows... maybe it is.

 

[Bobsama]

I am still running an old Celeron 2ghz with 512mb of ddr 266 and geforce fx5200 on apg 4x. The PC sucks overall, though I use it to run a game called Freespace2_Open, using the latest build (3.6.9 Final) and the adveffects mediaVP's (3.6.8 zeta). The OGG cutscenes are cool too.

 

[mpjesse]

LOL... look at the share between ATI and nVidia video cards. Right along market share percentage lines. Pretty interesting. Also, did u see the percentage of those using 2.0GB or more of RAM? .06%. Wow!

And yeah... Crossfire is pwned by SLI in Source. Another surprising fact.

 

[turpit]

What do ya'll think?

No surprise.

The popular games on Steam, HL2, CS and such, are not very demanding, and people can run games fine with older P4s and Athlons.

This was my thought exactly. I'd like to see the percentages on a game like Oblivion.

That's why I'm not 100% convinced this survey is all that accurate. But who knows... maybe it is.

I remember reading a THG review last year where they werent too impressed with last years PC game offerings overall, and I would tend to agree. Oblivions eye candy was impressive to say the least, but as D3 was to doom, Oblivion was to morrowind, which is to say the gameplay didnt seem to be improved signifcantly. Q4 was more eye candy, but so linear I felt a little disapointed.

Except for folks who wanted eye candy over game play, not much reason to upgrade, so I agree with you. This year may be a little different. Crysis, C&C III, etc are due out so who knows, they may may force some upgrades.

I also cant help but wonder how many enthusiasts have been holding out on replacing their systems while waiting for CPU prices to fall farther and for the introduction of Vista ( :roll: ) DX10 and DX 10 video cards

 

[croc]

I'd like to know the methodology used to gather this information...

 

[lordaardvark2]

A poll here is a bit skewed as many people here are enthusiasts who prefer to stay nearer to the cutting edge when they can afford it.

yeah, i was going to say the same thing... too bad you beat me by a few hours lol.

I'd like to know the methodology used to gather this information...

i don't know about the other survey, but for the Valve survey, they ask you when you log in to your account for like the first time. its not like they just guess. its a pretty inclusive survey.

I remember reading a THG review last year where they werent too impressed with last years PC game offerings overall, and I would tend to agree. Oblivions eye candy was impressive to say the least, but as D3 was to doom, Oblivion was to morrowind, which is to say the gameplay didnt seem to be improved signifcantly. Q4 was more eye candy, but so linear I felt a little disapointed.

Except for folks who wanted eye candy over game play, not much reason to upgrade, so I agree with you. This year may be a little different. Crysis, C&C III, etc are due out so who knows, they may may force some upgrades.

I also cant help but wonder how many enthusiasts have been holding out on replacing their systems while waiting for CPU prices to fall farther and for the introduction of Vista ( Rolling Eyes ) DX10 and DX 10 video cards

i must say that i've noticed a similar trend. Gabe Newell, i believe, over at Valve was talking about how even dual core procs aren't enough for what they want to do with them ( 8O ) but it just seems like videogaming is locked in a graphics arms-race... thats why i'm getting a wii! hooray for (hopefully) enjoyable innovation!

well, thats not to say that there aren't some amazing things that aren't graphics-driven, for example check out http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=27393 . if you've got a few min. to watch it, its really mind-blowing. THAT is a demo that i'd imagine needs a dual-core proc, and that is a game that (although its beautiful) isn't relying on its graphics.

i'm perfectly fine with my ~4 yr old sempron for gaming on the source engine, but i would like to switch if funds allow it. its not so much a need at this time as it is a want, like dual-cores are a preemptive measure against the future. oh well. i'd like to see some amazing gameplay BEYOND graphics, but then again there are those that really enjoyed Oblivion's story...

 

[Real999]

It doesn't really suprise me, a lot of people brought a pentium 4 or early athlon 3x00+ (including me ) when they came out so it will still take some years before the major part of the gamers have moved on to dualcore-systems

 

[croc]

It's kind of like they guess... Look at some of the detailed questions / answers... Take, for instance, the number of people that THINK they have a 10 Mbps connection...

 

[lordaardvark2]

well, it only asks about SOME of the topic areas... a lot of the hardware-based questions it figures out itself. it asks like 5 q's and then scans your machine. so yeah, i think that could be a skewed one b/c they do ask you that, but the other ones are pretty fair.

 

[croc]

Still leaves me wondering on the methodology. 10Mbps is a strange number for adsl or dsl. Just me...

Still, interesting survey. Like JJ I have to also go 'WOW: Look at the SLI numbers!'

 

[The_Abyss]

The statistics are realtime and are accurate - I posted the link here (Graphics forum) at the beginning of last week along withm commentary on the SI / Crossfire proportions etc. they've been publically avaialble for a long time now.

Dual core will be driven by the gaming market (consumers) far more than 64 bit in the short term which is now wholly driven by the developers.

 

[Dahak]

I agree fully.There are more dual core processors being used than the survey shows.I am one of them.And frankly I believe that nulti core processors are the way to go especially for the next few years.Anyways,just my thought on things.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.6 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X EVGA 7800GT IN SLI
2X1GIG DDR IN DC MODE
WD300GIG HD
EXTREME 19IN.MONITOR 1280X1024
THERMALTAKE TOUGHPOWER 850WATT PSU
COOLERMASTER MINI R120

 

[BaronMatrix]

According to the automatic survey by Valve Software, about 50.36% of Steam users have computers running Intel processors, whereas AMD-based systems are utilized by 49.64% of all 847 thousand of gamers who have Steam installed.

The vast majority of gamers – 87.39% - still have systems with one processing engine, however, already 12.56%, or about 106 thousand of users at press time, own a system that has two physical central processing units (CPUs), including those who have dual-processor machines as well as PCs based on dual-core microprocessors. About 0.05% of users – or 416 people – have a system with four cores, while 2 gamers are lucky enough to own a personal computer with 8 CPUs.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20070118143553.html

While the conclusion of their survey is undeniable... i question whether these numbers are conclusive for all gamers. I suspect the number of dual core users is higher across the board.

What do ya'll think?

EDIT: I added a poll


Well, if you look at the number of people who come here wanting to upgrade from single core, I can actually believe that.

 

[turpit]

i must say that i've noticed a similar trend. Gabe Newell, i believe, over at Valve was talking about how even dual core procs aren't enough for what they want to do with them ( 8O ) but it just seems like videogaming is locked in a graphics arms-race... thats why i'm getting a wii! hooray for (hopefully) enjoyable innovation!

well, thats not to say that there aren't some amazing things that aren't graphics-driven, for example check out http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=27393 . if you've got a few min. to watch it, its really mind-blowing. THAT is a demo that i'd imagine needs a dual-core proc, and that is a game that (although its beautiful) isn't relying on its graphics.

i'm perfectly fine with my ~4 yr old sempron for gaming on the source engine, but i would like to switch if funds allow it. its not so much a need at this time as it is a want, like dual-cores are a preemptive measure against the future. oh well. i'd like to see some amazing gameplay BEYOND graphics, but then again there are those that really enjoyed Oblivion's story...

That was an amazing demo..thanks for linking.

The grapics in that were amazing, but what interested me more was the concept of expanding perception. As you said, it was amazing and it wasnt relying on graphics to achieve that.

Too bad it was only a conceptual experiment. Looking at that, IMO a simple version would have big sales potential with architects and interior designers, allowing them to quickly sample and demo changes/variations with customers, prior to commencing construction or modeling. A great way to save money and insure the customer will be pleased with the end product.

Hell, that would be fun to play with just as it was.

Im not knocking oblivion, not at all, just saying it is what it is ..The elder scolls IV. There were some disappointments. The recuring modularity of caves, forts, temples, oblivion levels etc, the dropping of the underwater variations from morrowind etc. Overall very evolutionary rather than revolutionary..which again is not a bad thing, just an observation. On that note, Oblivion was one of the few highlights for gamers from last year.

 

[turpit]

.......
Finally, it is about 50/50 Intel/AMD which is odd, I expected AMD to be dominant on DT/retail/DYIer builds in this.... Intel's portion is much higher than I would have expected.

Jack

That suprised me too. I was thinking the same thing. :?

 

[sailer]

EDIT: Wholly crud, look at the dichotomy between SLI vs Xfire .... no contest.

Jack

Somehow that's not surprising at all. I've had SLI in the past, but then went to an ATI card. But, because of the idiot way ATI made Crossfire need an special motherboard, doing Crossfire on my motherboard was next to impossible. I'm not going to buy a special motherboard for an ATI card, because the next time around I might get an Nvidia card.

I think AMD/ATI would be really smart if they design the next generation of Crossifr so that it doesn't require a special motherboard. Then maybe they could sell more Crossfire systems.

 

[The_Abyss]

.......
Finally, it is about 50/50 Intel/AMD which is odd, I expected AMD to be dominant on DT/retail/DYIer builds in this.... Intel's portion is much higher than I would have expected.

Jack

That suprised me too. I was thinking the same thing. :?

Bear in mind what sort of survey you are looking at. Steam users only. there are plenty of people on Steam playing on Mum & Dad's PC, or their old one.

These are 'normal' owners playing on 'normal retail' PCs.

 

[shinigamiX]

I'm not really surprised. I'd also like to see just how many people have Graphics Cards. It might be lower than you guys think :tongue:

 

[turpit]

I'm not really surprised. I'd also like to see just how many people have Graphics Cards. It might be lower than you guys think :tongue:

Whats a..."Graphics Card" :?: :?: :?: :?:

 

[lordaardvark2]

That was an amazing demo..thanks for linking.

The grapics in that were amazing, but what interested me more was the concept of expanding perception. As you said, it was amazing and it wasnt relying on graphics to achieve that.

Too bad it was only a conceptual experiment. Looking at that, IMO a simple version would have big sales potential with architects and interior designers, allowing them to quickly sample and demo changes/variations with customers, prior to commencing construction or modeling. A great way to save money and insure the customer will be pleased with the end product.

Hell, that would be fun to play with just as it was.

Im not knocking oblivion, not at all, just saying it is what it is ..The elder scolls IV. There were some disappointments. The recuring modularity of caves, forts, temples, oblivion levels etc, the dropping of the underwater variations from morrowind etc. Overall very evolutionary rather than revolutionary..which again is not a bad thing, just an observation. On that note, Oblivion was one of the few highlights for gamers from last year.

yeah, man, omg i was SO let down when he said "i don't think this will ever become a game" because it was sheer amazing! the portals... omg.... i just want that demo....! it said something about the environment aging and stuff... well needless to say that was BEAUTIFUL and i don't mean just gfx.

 

[mpjesse]

Peter Molyneux is truly a visionary. While Carmack is out bitching about developer tools and dual core processors, Molyneux is using his creativity... something Carmack lacks completely. The only problem is Molyneux hasn't really been able to make a superhit. And sometimes he goes a little too far with his ideas. Despite what Peter thinks, most of us have short attention spans... and thus games like Black and White & The Movies don't have replay value. A lot of people play games for a quick release... which is why the action genre is so popular with developers. It's also why GTA is one of the best selling franchises in history.

Still, I think Molyneux adds a better, more interesting dimension to gaming than that nerd Carmack.

Trust me, Carmack's next release (which he won't talk about) isn't going to do anything new for the genre it competes in... which is probably FPS. I leave the cool stuff to Valve. (Portal looks f'ing awesome)