AMD CPUs, 64GB RAM, and Windows 11 show strong gains in the latest Steam Hardware Survey
6GB VRAM takes a dive, but 70% of GPUs still have 8GB of less.

The latest Steam Hardware Survey shows a substantial AMD CPU market share. It also suggests that consumers are beginning to favor PC systems with 64GB of RAM. This configuration is a solid third behind 32GB and 16GB RAM systems, both of which saw declines.
Another remarkable trend in the new December data deluge was a significant jump in Windows 11 adoption, almost wholly at the expense of Windows 10. Graphics card VRAM trends were also interesting, with a notable migration away from 6GB GPUs.
AMD CPU gains
AMD is finally gaining momentum, winning Steam gamers' hearts and minds in this latest survey. After steady but small gains since the middle of 2024, December saw a chunky 4.96% increase in AMD CPU user share.
We've seen signs of this movement in retail charts and the buzz for AMD's latest Zen 5 processors, especially those with 3D V-Cache. The CPUs are also backed by a good selection of AM5 motherboards, widely expected to enjoy enviable longevity.
So, perhaps it isn't surprising to see AMD gain nearly 5%, but the Intel/AMD ratio is still so strong in the former's favor at 63.43/38.73. The figure is likely skewed by Intel's strength in pre-built and laptop systems.
PC RAM – 64GB in strong gains
The PC system RAM chart shows that 64GB configurations were up 0.59% last month. This is the biggest gain in the RAM table, meaning that 3.94% of Steam gamers—or those surveyed—now use 64 GB RAM systems.
Perhaps surprisingly, 32GB RAM systems were down, but only by 0.09%, to 32.08%. The most popular RAM quota, 16GB, was equipped by 45.07% of users, down 0.86% from last month.
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Windows 11 will win you over, eventually
According to this survey, December 2024 saw a significant increase in Windows 11's market share. With a massive 6.16% uplift in December, Windows 11 jumped above the halfway mark to grab 54.96% of Steam users. Meanwhile, Windows 10 dropped 5.07% to 42.39% of Steam gamers.
Somehow, Windows 7 users are still charting despite Steam support for this aged OS dropping in January last year. However, the number almost halved, with Windows 7 users now at 0.15—down 0.13%.
VRAM – users migrate from 6GB GPUs
Lastly, 70% of Steam gamers still use a GPU with 8GB or less VRAM. Though the biggest gainer in December was 16GB GPUs, up 0.88%, and the most significant drop was seen with 6GB GPUs, down 2.42%, more than two-thirds of people are edging into VRAM poverty as far as modern AAA gaming is concerned.
There's been an upswell in voices complaining about mid-range GPUs packing 8GB of VRAM. Intel decided that 8GB wasn't enough, even with its first Battlemage graphics card with 12GB VRAM at a $250 MSRP. Nevertheless, enthusiasts are worried AMD and Nvidia won't raise the VRAM stakes for their most popular 060 cards in 2025.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
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ottonis From the article: "The figure is likely skewed by Intel's strength in pre-built and laptop systems."Reply
A decade and a half ago, or even longer, there were accusations against Intel to have bribed and/or blackmailed vendors to not build and not sell AMD-based computers. If I remember correctly, Intel had been found guilty of such behaviour. I wonder, how much of that have persisted up until now and how much builders, vendors and retailers are either afraid of losing business with Intel or getting some other disadvantages if they build or sell too many AMD products. -
oddrobert7
On laptop dGPU nvidia have such a monopoly, not to buy nvidia you must go out of your way and look around to find anything AMD.ottonis said:From the article: "The figure is likely skewed by Intel's strength in pre-built and laptop systems."
A decade and a half ago, or even longer, there were accusations against Intel to have bribed and/or blackmailed vendors to not build and not sell AMD-based computers. If I remember correctly, Intel had been found guilty of such behaviour. I wonder, how much of that have persisted up until now and how much builders, vendors and retailers are either afraid of losing business with Intel or getting some other disadvantages if they build or sell too many AMD products.
Would gladly pay more not to support those companies, but there are few viable products on sellers pages, even less second hand.
1:100 ratio seriously doubt it markets sentiment or better product, just plain force of big guy.
"The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must" -
thestryker I got a survey popup which surprised me as I'm not used to seeing them. I still really wish Valve used the platform to get some really good specifications data collection. They have the capability but whatever method they're using still ends up with weird swings and some data which is likely unrepresentative.Reply
That was around two decades ago, and then they wrote a big check to AMD ~15 years ago to settle the matter. It wasn't necessary for Intel to continue doing it because AMD wasn't offering a superior product anymore. Intel still carries so much of the market for mostly three reasons: momentum, volume and how they work with OEMs.ottonis said:From the article: "The figure is likely skewed by Intel's strength in pre-built and laptop systems."
A decade and a half ago, or even longer, there were accusations against Intel to have bribed and/or blackmailed vendors to not build and not sell AMD-based computers. If I remember correctly, Intel had been found guilty of such behaviour. I wonder, how much of that have persisted up until now and how much builders, vendors and retailers are either afraid of losing business with Intel or getting some other disadvantages if they build or sell too many AMD products. -
usertests If you see 64 GB under $100, just buy it and think later.Reply
48 GB could catch on, but it's DDR5 only, and more expensive than what I paid for 64 GB DDR4. -
StuWiFi6DDR5
I picked up 64GB, of ddr5, for $185, in 4.8GHz, about 9 months ago, somebody else, got 32GB of 6GHz for about the same price. It’s a battle, bios problems, with AM5 motherboards, widows 11 update problems. But the dream of larger, faster ram and pcie5, to run AI lives on, when they took out the xdna, from the 9000 series AMD apus, I was gutted. So I just got a Mac mini M4, with 38 tops of machine learning, 16GB of unified memory, for $600.usertests said:If you see 64 GB under $100, just buy it and think later.
48 GB could catch on, but it's DDR5 only, and more expensive than what I paid for 64 GB DDR4. -
usertests
What? There is no 9000 APU and Kraken/Strix Point/Halo have XDNA2.StuWiFi6DDR5 said:when they took out the xdna, from the 9000 series AMD apu -
StuWiFi6DDR5
Correct, much to my surprise, after the 8000 series, had 16 tops, of XDNA, the 9000 series 0 tops, of XDNA, I was expecting 50 tops of XDNA, only on the laptop and mini computer, eg. 370 chips. So I had to go the graphics route, a 7000 series graphics card, bios problems, widows 11 update problems etc.usertests said:What? There is no 9000 APU and Kraken/Strix Point/Halo have XDNA2.