Several things have changed, and there have been some major fluctuations on both the hardware and OS levels.
Steam Hardware Survey March 2026 Reveals Linux Suddenly Spiked to Over 5%; 16 GB System RAM is Now More Popular Than 32 GB
The Steam Hardware Survey data for March 2026 is out, and there have been major changes in shares on both hardware and OS levels. The last survey showed a huge spike in shares for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs, which was caused by the Chinese New Year. The reason was obvious when we checked the language share in February. However, the latest data shows things have stabilized, but there have been some major changes.
The biggest change is in the OS share, with the Windows OS share dropping to 92.33%, but Linux OS jumped to a whopping 5.33%. This is the first time it has crossed 5%, but such a sudden spike isn't normal at all. Linux has hardly managed to reach >2% on Steam. So, there must have been a cause for this spike, and it's expected that the Linux share might drop to around 3% at the end of this month.
Nonetheless, something "expected" happened last month. As far as the GPU share is concerned, the GeForce RTX 3060 is back at the top, and the GeForce RTX 50 series cards have now dropped to near-January levels. The RTX 5070 is still the most popular RTX 50 card with 5.40% market share. Other RTX 50 series GPUs are scattered at various positions, and once again, the Radeon RX 9070 popped up with just 0.15% of share.
Another interesting major change was in the System RAM section. With the RAM prices rising rapidly, users opted more for 16 GB RAM capacity than 32 GB. 16 GB now has a 40.97% share, surpassing 32 GB system RAM capacity, which has dropped to 36.62% share (a -20.31% change). Now, as we see DDR5 RAM prices stabilizing slowly, we could see the 32 GB configuration rising again.
Interestingly, higher VRAM capacity GPUs are still on the rise, and the 16 GB GPUs suddenly rose to a 21.53% share (+3.27% change). 8 GB VRAM is still the most popular VRAM capacity with 27.52% share. It's clear that a system has a higher chance to become future-proof if they have a higher VRAM GPU, as system RAM can be upgraded anytime, but GPU upgrades are far more expensive.
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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