GTX 1650 Still Most Popular GPU According to Newest Steam Survey

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The GTX 1650 has maintained its number one position.

EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 XC Black
(Image credit: Nvidia)

Steam has released the latest results of its hardware survey for June of 2023. This is a voluntary survey that users can opt into, with data published on a regular basis giving insights into the hardware stats of average users. Last month, some adjustments were made to correct a data collection issue that resulted in the RTX 3060 dropping out of the number one slot for graphics cards and landing in 3rd place. 

It’s worth noting that because this survey is conducted on a voluntary basis, some fluctuation of data is expected. However, this is still one of the best opportunities we have to look at data from real users on a consistent basis. It’s common to see changes in hardware results that vary depending on real-world events and market evolution. After last month's adjustment, we’ve seen some minor changes in GPU popularity and expect more changes as prices lower over time.

While the RTX 3060 was knocked down to third place last month, it’s managed to creep up to a second-place slot in the latest results. The RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, however, has lowered from third place to fourth, getting replaced by GTX 1060. For the second month in a row, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 has managed to reign supreme as the most popular GPU this month.

The GPU market is highly competitive yet dominated by NVidia hardware. As far as processors go, however, Intel has maintained a lead over AMD for months. Most users using an Intel CPU operate within speeds between 2.3GHz and 2.69GHz. On the other hand, the majority of AMD users report an average range of 3.3GHz to 3.69GHz.

Overall the changes this month have been minor compared to May’s results. Some areas haven’t changed much at all, like the number of cores used by each OS. Most Windows users are using processors with 6 cores, OSX tops out with 8 cores, and Linux rests around 4. If you want to get a closer look at the latest hardware survey results, you can do so over at the official Steam website.

Ash Hill
Ash Hill
Freelance News and Features Writer

Ash Hill is a Freelance News and Features Writer with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.

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13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • LolaGT
    Not any shock. The average gamer doesn't spend $400-500 on a discrete card.
    Let alone the ones significantly more than that, those are for people with way more money than sense.

    We are still in a 1080p world for the majority.
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    I have one here... but get a 1660 super. I have waited two year to Replace the 1650 but with these new cards can't do. 1650
    On rdr2 got 42fps full hd with the 1660 super finally will get the 60 fps. Great card for the price.
    Reply
  • zecoeco
    A superb and extremely power-efficient GPU that doesn't require extra power, additional ports , or newer PCIe Gen4. Gets the job done for 99% of people who just want to "game" and have "fun".
    As powerful as an Xbox Series-S, and sold for no more than $100 (Non-Super Variant).
    At 720p its very impressive, and is great at 1080p resolution. Speaking from experience as I have owned the card for about 1 year.
    Reply
  • PlaneInTheSky
    People are too busy paying their grocery bills to care about stupid stuff like a raytraced puddle of water, or the latest "AAA" game full of microtransactions.

    A 1650 is good enough to play indie games and 99% of games that came out before 2020.
    Reply
  • Math Geek
    got a 1650 super that has no problems at 1080p.

    so long as you don't suffer from FOMO, it's more than ample for enjoying most any game.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    No shock as GPU prices are at the levels they are, even for entry level GPUs, and the up to $380 RTX 4060 isn't going to make a dent in it.

    The GPU market is highly competitive

    No it's not and I disagree most strongly.

    The 7900XTX and RTX 4080, for example, are essentially equal in performance according to TH, but while the 4080 is $1150-$1200, the 7900XTX is $1000-$1100 (current prices on Newegg). Even if you don't weight vendor specific features (like DLSS) all and just go on the numbers, $1175 vs $1050 isn't very "competitive", they're both still incredibly expensive.


    Then at the more mainstream/entry level gaming with the 4060 vs the current AMD competitor, the 6700XT, the 6700XT is $340-$400 and the 4060 is $300-$390. There is absolutely ZERO competition, the prices are identical.



    And this is not unexpected considering nVidia (especially) and AMD are making money hand over fist in other market segments so there is zero reason for them to actually COMPETE in consumer graphics. When AMD released the 4970, they priced it half of what nVidia priced their card and it shocked the market, they cut prices quickly across the board as AMD released their lower tiers. Same thing happened with the 5970. When AMD released the RX 480 it was priced extremely competitively, and the rebrand RX 580 did as well.

    No, until Intel gets their GPUs in order there effectively is no competition between AMD and nVidia in the consumer space (and in the professional space vendor specific features and software performance mean more). No matter if you go Team Red or Team Green, you're going to pay about the same price for the same level of performance, especially in the more entry level and mainstream tiers.
    Reply
  • hotaru.hino
    It's important to note that this data should only really be taken as that: data.

    Because if you look at the history (since Valve also provides the last four months), the RTX 3060 was in 10.67% of computers that were surveyed in March. It dropped down to 4.66% in April, though the GTX 1650 went up about 2 percentage points. So unless a significant amount of people sold their 3060s and got a GTX 1650, this doesn't really say much about actual ownership of video cards across Steam's landscape.

    I mean, I haven't submitted my hardware profile to Steam in several months. Either because I wasn't asked or I just wasn't logging in as much.
    Reply
  • IamNotChatGpt
    Can people stop talking about Steam surveys? (and the damn submarine<-nobody cares, the news cycle is REALLY dead dry for people to still talk about that garbage init?).
    These surveys don't mean anything.

    It doesn't survey properly. Especially if you are on linux. If everyone would take the survey, the numbers would look very different, They make it seem like that there are only a handful number of 2000, 3000 and 4000 owners out there....
    Reply
  • baboma
    >the RTX 3060 was in 10.67% of computers that were surveyed in March. It dropped down to 4.66% in April, though the GTX 1650 went up about 2 percentage points. So unless a significant amount of people sold their 3060s and got a GTX 1650, this doesn't really say much about actual ownership of video cards across Steam's landscape.

    I agree in part. The data collection is too uneven to definitively or even tentatively state whether X is more popular than Y at any given time. But IMO it's good enough to divine broad findings, such as Nvidia GPUs have a dominant share over the other brands.

    Likewise, you can divine broad trends over time, ie with successive monthly snapshots, such as whether a new generation is making inroads, and how quickly.

    >These surveys don't mean anything.

    It's not perfect, but it's the only viable indicator of GPU ownership available to the public. Amazon's best selling GPUs is another indicator, but it only cover new sales, not what's being used (ownership), and it has no quantitative data, making it much less useful. But it is a good snapshot of the hot sellers.

    https://amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Computer-Graphics-Cards/zgbs/pc/284822
    Right now, the top two best-sellers are 3060 12GB, followed by a 3060 8GB at over $300. Despite the sturm und drang over the 4060 from the hardcore crowd, it's reasonable to expect the 4060 slotting into the 3060's spots in the coming months. This is how to tell whether the sentiments expressed on these forums are representative of the overall public. Read: They aren't.

    Of course, there are various sales/use trackers available with subscription. If you really want to know, you can. It just costs money.
    Reply
  • hotaru.hino
    IamNotChatGpt said:
    These surveys don't mean anything.

    It doesn't survey properly. Especially if you are on linux. If everyone would take the survey, the numbers would look very different, They make it seem like that there are only a handful number of 2000, 3000 and 4000 owners out there....
    I think the surveys are meaningful, it's just people need to understand how to interpret the data.
    Reply