The GPU saw a sudden jump in popularity this month, and the RTX 5060 also saw a significantly higher share change this month.
GeForce RTX 5070 Becomes The Most Popular GPU As Per Steam Hardware Survey, Followed by RTX 5060; 32 GB System RAM Also Saw a Sudden Popularity Surge
The GeForce RTX 4060 is no longer the most popular graphics card according to the Steam Hardware Survey. The February 2026 stats reveal that the most popular GPU now, according to Steam, is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, which had less than 3% share in January. The GPU saw a sudden surge in popularity, increasing its share from 2.87% to a whopping 9.42%, which is almost a ~228% change in its popularity in just a single month.
This seems unusual, considering there are some bizarre changes in the OS and language share, including a big drop in Windows 11 popularity and a 30.74% increase in the Chinese language, which could have made such changes in the charts. Nonetheless, here is what we are seeing on the charts at the moment:
It's incredible how things have changed due to the RAMpocalypse, but this is perhaps the most significant change in GPU share we have seen on a Steam Hardware Survey. It's not that the RTX 4060's share has declined, but the RTX 5070 made a much bigger jump. It's now followed by the GeForce RTX 5060, the slowest and the cheapest Blackwell graphics card that brings 8 GB VRAM, currently prioritized by NVIDIA due to VRAM shortages. The GPU saw a massive jump of nearly 168% month-over-month and now holds a good 6.72% of total GPU share.
Other GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs have also grown in popularity significantly, including the RTX 5060 Ti, despite being much more expensive than before, but it's not clear which edition (8 GB/16 GB) saw a bigger jump. The RTX 5080's share grew from 1.25% to 1.66% in a month, and it's one of the most prioritized 16 GB GPUs in the lineup due to superior performance vs RTX 5070 Ti. Weirdly, the RX 9000 series has disappeared from the charts, which made its debut recently in the Steam Hardware Survey.
In the last few months, another interesting event happened, which clearly reflects the state of the current memory market. 32 GB System RAM is now the most popular memory configuration on PCs with Steam installed (remember, users have the option to opt out of the Steam Hardware Surveys). While 16 GB system RAM capacity dropped from nearly 40% share to around 27.47%, the 32 GB system RAM has now gained 18.91% share vs the last month. With a 56.93% of the total share, it is now up by around ~50% month-over-month.
32 GB DDR5 memory kits currently retail for at least $350-$400, with premium kits being over $500 in most places. A sudden surge in growth indicates panic buying due to the fear of RAM kits becoming more expensive than before. However, we have been seeing DDR5 RAM prices stabilizing in many places, but reports indicate they can get pricier in the coming weeks.
News Source: Steam
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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