Steam’s January 2026 Hardware Survey paints a clear picture of where PC gaming is headed right now: GeForce RTX 50-series cards are spreading fast, and the biggest momentum is coming from the more budget-friendly options. The GeForce RTX 5060 is currently the fastest climber, with the GeForce RTX 5070 close behind.
According to the latest Steam survey results, the GeForce RTX 5060 posted a massive month-over-month jump in adoption, rising by nearly 40% versus December 2025. That kind of leap is notable even if the overall market share still looks modest at first glance. The RTX 5060 moved from about 1.78% in December to 2.50% in January. For a single month, that’s a significant real-world increase in the number of Steam users actively gaming on that GPU.
The GeForce RTX 5070 also gained ground quickly. Its Steam share climbed from 2.41% to 2.87%, a rise of roughly 19% in one month. With that increase, the RTX 5070 now holds the top spot among RTX 50-series GPUs on Steam, suggesting it’s finding a strong balance between performance expectations and what buyers can actually get their hands on in today’s market.
So why are these particular GPUs taking off? A big factor is pricing pressure across the entire graphics card market. With gamers often forced to shop at inflated prices, demand naturally shifts toward models that are easier to find and less painful to buy. Supply decisions by GPU makers are also having a direct impact on what ends up inside gaming PCs.
One especially important detail reflected in the broader market is a stronger push around 8 GB RTX 50-series models. With VRAM-related constraints influencing supply, there has reportedly been a greater focus on GPUs like the RTX 5060, the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, and the RTX 5070. At the same time, supply for the RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB has been reduced to help keep those other cards flowing.
That matters because many gamers would rather buy the 16 GB version of the RTX 5060 Ti for more headroom in modern PC games. But when pricing climbs to around double the suggested launch price, the “preferred” option becomes difficult for most people to justify. The result is predictable: the more affordable 8 GB version becomes the practical choice for buyers who simply want a current-generation GPU without overspending.
Interestingly, the Steam survey also suggests a broader shift in VRAM trends. Even with the market’s focus on 8 GB availability, GPUs with 16 GB of VRAM have increased their overall share compared to December 2025, while 8 GB GPUs are showing noticeable declines. In other words, there’s still strong long-term demand for higher-VRAM cards—pricing and supply are just shaping what people buy month to month.
On the AMD side, the survey shows much less visibility for the newest Radeon lineup. Only the Radeon RX 9070 appears in the January 2026 results, holding a small 0.16% share. The RX 9070 XT is no longer listed, and its higher price compared to the non-XT model may be limiting adoption. Meanwhile, the RX 9060 XT still hasn’t appeared on the chart, continuing a pattern where some RX 9000-series GPUs have been strangely missing from Steam’s survey data since launch.
Overall, Steam’s January 2026 numbers highlight a market where availability and pricing are driving adoption as much as raw performance. The GeForce RTX 5060’s surge and the RTX 5070’s continued rise show that gamers are gravitating toward the newest generation where it’s most attainable—especially when higher-tier or higher-VRAM options are harder to find at reasonable prices. Source: Steam Hardware Survey (January 2026).
