RTX 5070 Takes the Lead in Steam Hardware Survey as 32 GB RAM Becomes the Most Popular PC Gaming Setup
The latest Steam Hardware Survey has delivered a surprising shake-up in the PC gaming hardware rankings. After holding strong for months, the GeForce RTX 4060 and RTX 3060 have finally been pushed out of the top GPU positions. Taking their place is one of NVIDIA’s newer GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards, the RTX 5070.
According to the September Steam Hardware Survey, the GeForce RTX 5070 is now the most popular graphics card among surveyed Steam users, reaching a 6.15% share. That is an unusually high figure for a single GPU in the survey. In recent years, even the most widely used graphics cards have typically stayed around the 3% to 4% range, making the RTX 5070’s sudden climb especially notable.
At first glance, this may look like a major turning point for the GPU market. The RTX 4060 and RTX 3060 have been among the most common choices for PC gamers thanks to their broad availability, lower pricing compared to high-end cards, and strong 1080p gaming performance. Their long run near the top of Steam’s rankings reflected how many players continue to use mid-range hardware rather than flagship GPUs.
However, the RTX 5070’s rise may not be as straightforward as it appears.
A closer look at the September Steam data shows a major increase in systems using Simplified Chinese, with that category jumping by around 7.42%. This kind of regional shift can have a big impact on the Steam Hardware Survey, especially when a large number of users from a particular market appear in the data during the same month.
That spike appears to be one of the main reasons behind the sudden reshuffling in GPU rankings. The RTX 5070 was already gaining traction, holding a 3.77% share in August, so it was clearly becoming more popular. Still, a jump to more than 6% in a single month is unusually large and likely tied to the broader survey fluctuation rather than organic global adoption alone.
The GeForce RTX 50 series also performed strongly beyond the RTX 5070. The RTX 5060 reached a 4.40% share, while the RTX 5060 Ti followed closely with 4.06%. These results suggest that NVIDIA’s newer mid-range and upper-mid-range GPUs are seeing strong representation in the Steam survey, at least for September.
Even so, the rankings could change again quickly. If the regional language distribution returns closer to previous levels in the next survey, the RTX 4060 and RTX 3060 may regain some of their lost ground. Both GPUs remain extremely common among PC gamers and continue to be practical options for mainstream gaming systems.
The September survey also brought a major shift in system memory trends. For the first time, 32 GB of RAM has become the most popular configuration among Steam users, reaching a 42.22% share. Meanwhile, 16 GB RAM dropped to 37.82%.
This change reflects a broader trend in PC gaming. Modern games, background applications, browsers, launchers, and creative tools are all pushing memory demands higher. While 16 GB is still enough for many gamers, 32 GB has become increasingly attractive for users who want smoother multitasking, better performance in demanding titles, and more future-proof gaming PCs.
However, just like the GPU rankings, the RAM results may also have been influenced by the same regional shift in the survey data. The gap between 16 GB and 32 GB has been narrowing for months, so the change was not unexpected, but the timing and scale of the jump may have been accelerated by September’s unusual data mix.
Overall, the latest Steam Hardware Survey paints an interesting picture of the current PC gaming landscape. The RTX 5070 has taken the number one GPU spot, the RTX 50 series is showing strong momentum, and 32 GB RAM has overtaken 16 GB as the most common memory configuration.
Still, this may not be a permanent shift. The Steam Hardware Survey can fluctuate from month to month, especially when regional participation changes significantly. The next update will be important for determining whether the RTX 5070 is truly becoming the new favorite GPU among PC gamers or whether the RTX 4060 and RTX 3060 are ready to climb back to the top.
