Steam’s New GPU Standard Is Here: 16GB of VRAM Takes the Top Spot for the First Time

Valve has released its regular monthly breakdown of gaming PC configurations on Steam—and the July 2026 data shows several notable shifts. The big takeaway: NVIDIA GPUs continue to reign supreme, while over in the CPU space, AMD is steadily chipping away at Intel’s market share.

In July, the most popular desktop graphics card was the GeForce RTX 3060, now sitting at 3.71%. Last month, the mobile RTX 4060 briefly held the crown, but it’s dropped to second place with 3.44%. Rounding out the top three is the RTX 5070, which posted one of the strongest monthly gains and now accounts for 3.40% of all systems. Worth noting: the entire top ten still consists exclusively of NVIDIA cards—no discrete AMD or Intel GPUs in sight.

Looking beyond specific models, the VRAM landscape has seen a major shake-up. For the first time ever, configurations with 16GB of video memory have pulled ahead, hitting 25.9% and overtaking the former long-time leader—8GB (25.32%). Third place goes to 12GB cards at 12.88%.

The CPU battle on Steam is heating up. AMD processors are now found in 45.34% of gaming rigs—up 0.37% month-over-month. Intel still holds the majority with 54.65%, but the narrowing gap has been a consistent trend for several quarters now. At the same time, core-count preferences are shifting: 6-core CPUs are still in first place (28.43%), but their share dipped by half a percent, while 8-core chips are closing in at 27.74% with a 0.43% gain. If this keeps up, August could bring a whole new race.

When it comes to system RAM, 16GB remains the standard—found in 40.97% of systems. But 32GB is hot on its heels with 36.93%, and even 24GB configurations saw a modest bump. As for displays, Full HD (1920×1080) continues to hold the top spot at 51.10%, though it's losing a fraction of a percent. QHD (2560×1440) sits in second at 21.46%, with its user base slowly growing.

Windows 11 remains the dominant OS with a 70.26% share, while Windows 10 trails at 23.30%. Over in VR, the race is almost dead even: Oculus Quest 2 slightly edges out Quest 3—26.66% vs. 26.25%. Language preferences are business as usual: English (39.61%), Simplified Chinese (22.52%), and Russian (9.30%).

So, what’s inside your rig right now, and are you planning any upgrades before the year ends? Drop your specs in the comments below.