Steam Survey shockwaves felt as proportion of 32GB RAM systems drops by more than 5% — the percentage of PC gamers with 1TB+ total storage also shrunk by nearly 5%

The latest Steam Survey shows that the proportion of gamers with systems featuring 32GB or more of RAM has decreased by more than 5%, while those with 1TB or more of total storage capacity have also shrunk by nearly 5%. This indicates a significant shift in the gaming PC landscape, with a rise in the use of 8GB and 16GB RAM systems and smaller storage devices.

The AI industry-induced components crunch has been a hot topic lately, but the impact on PC gaming is striking. In the past, 32GB systems were the most popular configuration among gamers, but the latest survey reveals that this trend has reversed. The increased demand for AI-driven components such as RAM is causing prices to rise, with 16GB DDR5 now costing around $250 and 32GB DDR5 costing about $450.

In terms of storage, the survey shows that systems with 1TB of total fixed storage space have decreased by 4.68%. This suggests that fewer gaming PCs come with either a 2TB or 4TB SSD as standard. The shift in storage configurations is likely due to the growing popularity of smaller capacity SSDs, with systems ranging from 250GB to 499GB seeing a similar increase (+2.30%) in usage.

As the GPU market continues to evolve, with reports of high-end models like the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 being removed from retail, it's clear that the PC gaming landscape is changing. The Steam Survey shows that the RTX 5070 and the aging RTX 3060 are now the most popular GPUs, each accounting for 3.78% of the market.