Valve has unveiled the latest Steam Survey results for June, revealing a stunning newcomer to the top ten most popular graphics processing units (GPUs). Nvidia’s Ada GPU series is gaining momentum, with an unexpected leader emerging at the top of the performance charts. At number three, despite a significant 0.74% boost in reputation – a notable rise considering the market’s oversaturation – sits the Laptop Computer GPU.
This isn’t even Nvidia’s entry-level GPU in this regard. Unlike Nvidia’s desktop graphics card lineup, which lacks a GeForce RTX 4060 equivalent, laptop users can opt for the GeForce RTX 4050 GPU in this price range; however, its performance ranking has slipped to 30th place in the latest Valve Steam Survey. As a substitute, the GeForce RTX 4060 appears to be the clear winner in terms of capturing the hearts and minds of both gamers and laptop manufacturers seeking to produce the ultimate gaming notebooks currently.
According to recent data, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop computer has gained significant traction among Steam users, boasting a 3.58% market share among those who disclosed their hardware specifications in June, a notable increase from its 2.84% share in May. The secret to its impressive performance lies in its remarkable versatility. Laptop manufacturers can typically impose thermal energy limits on GPUs, ranging from 80W to 115W, which allows the GPU to operate at frequencies as low as 1,545 MHz in thin laptops with limited cooling capacity or up to 2,370 MHz in high-end devices with more substantial power supplies and robust cooling systems.
Laptop manufacturers can comfortably integrate this GPU into numerous diverse chassis, preserving the same fundamental specifications – 3,072 CUDA cores, 24 real-time cores for ray tracing, and 8GB of GDDR6 video random access memory. While the clock pace indeed significantly impacts efficiency, it’s crucial to note that the presence of a GeForce RTX 4050 is not solely determined by its wattage.
Unlike many Nvidia mobile GPUs, this core spec can also be applied to the GeForce RTX 4060 desktop GPU, with only one key difference: desktop graphics cards boast a slightly higher memory clock speed and a more substantial GPU boost clock at 2,460MHz. The desktop RTX 4060 remains within the top ten on the June Steam Survey, holding a modest 3.02% market share.
While AMD’s RDNA 3 GPU architecture continues to struggle in competing with Nvidia’s performance standards. The latest June Steam Survey reveals a mere 0.37% market share for the lone representative from AMD’s contemporary GPU lineup: the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. The top 15 GPUs surveyed consist solely of Nvidia products, showcasing a range of generational advancements from Pascal’s GeForce GTX 1060 to Turing’s RTX 2060, followed by Ampere’s RTX 3060 and culminating in the cutting-edge Ada GPUs.
The latest survey reveals that the gaming laptop industry has emerged as a significant player in a market traditionally dominated by desktop PCs. The laptop’s GPU is currently handling more concurrent Steam users than any Nvidia RTX 4000-series desktop GPUs, with the previous-generation RTX 3060 laptop GPU ranking sixth in the same survey.
Before upgrading your GPU, explore our comprehensive guide to the best graphics cards, where we walk you through top-notch options across various price points.
