Are Steam users a bunch of Intel fanboys?

Steam

As I’m sure most of you already know, Valve periodically releases results of a hardware survey they conduct from within the Steam software. Information is gathered from a user’s machine – like what processor they use, how much system ram they have, hard drive space etc. It can be fun to see the demographic you yourself fit into in the overall hardware pallet. Let’s take a brief look August’s results.

Processors:

Intel vs AMD

Unsurprisingly Intel has a monopoly on processors, but you might be surprised at just how much. According to Valve’s August Hardware & Software Study, 72.37% of its users have Intel processors. This dwarfs AMD’s small footprint of a mere 27.63%.

Processor Cores

As more and more PCs are equipped with multi-core CPUs, let’s take a look at the percentages. Single-core processors still make up 14.10%, while dual-core seems to be the dominant blend with a whopping 56.97% share. Quad-cores are on the rise but still only account for 27.24%. With hex-core still in its infancy, only 0.43% are booting up their Steam-based machines with 6 processing cores. This is obviously bound to change with AMD’s low-cost Phenom II x6 processors and whatever lower-priced variants Intel unleash next year.

Graphics Cards:

As with Intel, Nvidia also makes up a larger share of the pie with 59.11% of users having their GPUs, compared to AMD’s 32.98% market share. Tragically 6.22 % still use on-board Intel graphics. Maybe we should take a moment’s pause to reflect on their pain. Why are they even using Steam?

Interestingly enough only 0.58% of users have 1.5Gb of Vram. It looks like Nvidia’s GTX 480 is not too popular among users of Steam

System Ram:

Ram is not quite as important as it once was when it comes to gaming with 4-6 Gb being the mainstay for most avid gamers. 26.9% are still on 2Gb, with almost the same amount using 3Gb. 4Gb users are a slightly smaller bunch with 22.9% of the chart. Do you use more than 4Gb of ram? You’re in an illustrious club of 11.05%.

Operating systems:

It seems that Windows XP just won’t die. Microsoft has cut off the life-support machine, and many PC vendors (including Dell) are going to cut off aid to the aging OS very soon. But like a stubborn old man, XP fights on with 31.49%. I should note that Windows 7 is gaining on XP, trailing behind at only 29.62% (the 64-bit version). The 32-bit version of Vista still has a surprising 13.22% of users, but this is on the decline as you would expect.

Conclusion:

Are you an Intel fanboy? Maybe you like AMD’s bang for the buck pricing. Do you even use Steam? Let us know what kind of hardware setup you have and how you fit into the Steam tree, if at all.