In Valve’s September Steam Hardware & Software Survey, AMD processors are in 47.41% of the Windows systems and Intel’s in 52.59%. The processor usage page keeps five months of history: in May the split was 55.02% Intel to 44.97% AMD, so Intel’s lead has gone from 10.05 points to 5.18.
September alone closed 3.77 of the 4.87 points Intel’s lead has lost since May
AMD’s Windows figures run 44.97%, 44.92%, 45.34%, 45.52% and 47.41% from May to September. Intel led by 8.95 points in August, so the gap fell by 1.1 points over May to August and by 3.77 in September alone. AMD’s 1.89-point gain in the latest month is more than four times its largest monthly move over the three before it, which was 0.42 points in July. AMD has gained in each of the last three months after a 0.05-point dip in June.
Valve’s RAM and CPU-count tables also moved by several points in the same month
Valve reports that the Windows tables on its hardware survey page changed by several points at once. In the RAM table, systems with 32 GB rose 4.81 points to 43.28% while 16 GB fell 3.47 points to 37.60%, so 32 GB now leads after 16 GB led in August by roughly 41.1% to 38.5%. In the table labelled “Physical CPUs”, the “8 cpus” row is up 2.10 points to 30.05% and “4 cpus” is down 1.46 to 10.37%. The RAM table records capacity only, so it does not show which memory generation those systems use.
Our view: participation in the survey is optional and anonymous, and it measures the machines of Steam users who opted in, not sales or the installed base of PCs. Valve does not say whether the respondent mix changed, so part of September’s jump could come from who answered. October’s figures will show whether the step holds.