NVIDIA’s Blackwell-based RTX 50 series is steadily gaining ground in the Steam Hardware Survey, but it still has a climb before any model breaks into the overall top 10. August’s data highlights a clear leader within the new lineup and a surprising momentum play in the budget tier.
As always, remember Steam’s survey reflects hardware from users who opt in; it’s a useful pulse of PC gaming trends, not a definitive sales ledger.
What’s rising in August 2025
– GeForce RTX 5070: 1.57% share (+0.25 percentage points in August), now the most-used RTX 50 card on Steam and sitting 19th overall.
– GeForce RTX 5060: 1.01% share (+0.41), the fastest-growing RTX 50 GPU last month and second only to the perennial mover, RTX 4060, in month-to-month gains.
– GeForce RTX 5070 Ti: 0.75%
– GeForce RTX 5080: 0.74%
– GeForce RTX 5060 Ti: 0.74%
– GeForce RTX 5090: 0.26%
Previous-gen still rules the charts
The RTX 4060 continues to dominate, and it’s joined by strong representation from the RTX 40 series, RTX 30 series, and even Turing-era cards. Many PC gamers are sticking with perfectly capable older GPUs, likely due to price-to-performance considerations and the abundant availability of last-gen models.
Why the RTX 5060 is the momentum story
Despite its 8 GB VRAM, the GeForce RTX 5060 is resonating with value seekers at around a $300 price point. For many, it delivers a sensible uplift over staples like the RTX 4060 and RTX 3060 that often sell near similar prices, making it an easy upgrade path for mainstream gaming at 1080p and beyond.
VRAM trends favor mainstream builds
8 GB remains the sweet spot on Steam:
– 8 GB: 35.03% share (+1.37 in August)
– 12 GB: 19.30%
– 16 GB: 6.80%
These figures underscore how mainstream pricing and widespread availability continue to shape what most gamers buy.
What about AMD’s latest?
Recent RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9000 cards, including models such as the RX 9070 XT and RX 9060 XT 16 GB, did not surface in the August listing. Their absence in this survey isn’t a verdict on demand; it simply reflects the nuances of opt-in data and how quickly new hardware shows up in the sample.
CPU and OS snapshot
– 6-core processors lead with 30.64% share, followed by 8-core and 4-core chips, reinforcing six cores as the current sweet spot for gaming rigs.
– Windows 11 continues its march at 63.18% (+0.28 in August), extending its lead as the primary gaming OS.
What this means if you’re upgrading
– If you want in on Blackwell today, the RTX 5070 offers the widest adoption base, while the RTX 5060 is the standout climber for budget-focused builds.
– Expect RTX 50 adoption to keep rising as retailers wind down older inventories and prices normalize.
– With 8 GB still the most common VRAM tier among Steam users, mainstream cards remain the practical choice for high-volume gamers.
