AMD Radeon 780M and GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU growth point to a changing PC gaming landscape

The Steam Hardware & Software Survey results for August 2024 are now online, and when it comes to GPUs, the GeForce RTX 3060 is still the most popular option among PC gamers. The story hasn't changed much in the desktop space compared to last month, with the GeForce RTX 4060, RTX 4060 Ti, and RTX 4070 proving to be the undisputed go-to cards for this generation.

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The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU is the most popular in NVIDIA's Ada lineup.

NVIDIA is dominating, with AMD and Intel barely making an impression outside integrated graphics. However, this month, the Steam hardware chart for GPUs sees a new arrival in the form of AMD Radeon 780M Graphics, the integrated graphics found in popular portable gaming hardware like the ROG Ally, Legion Go, and several other portable devices from companies like Ayaneo, Zotac, and more.

Found in the popular Ryzen 7000 Series of mobile processors, Radeon 780M Graphics has been a game changer (alongside the Radeon hardware inside the Steam Deck) for pushing portable PC gaming handhelds into the mainstream.

It feels like a new sector in which NVIDIA lacks a foothold or integrated GPU option. Regarding PC gaming handhelds, you've got a steady stream of options with Radeon 780M Graphics, the Radeon-powered Steam Deck, or MSI's Claw, which uses Intel's Core Ultra processor with integrated Arc graphics.

The Radeon 780M's arrival in the Steam Hardware & Software Survey proves that portable PC gaming is a growing market. It also indicates a potential shift in PC gaming when you look at the second most popular GPU among PC gamers - the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. This low-power and efficient entry in NVIDIA's mobile Ada lineup now sits below the GeForce RTX 3060 in second place.

It's the most popular GPU in the entire GeForce RTX 40 Series. This indicates that laptops with GeForce RTX 4060 GPUs are selling exceptionally well and are becoming one of the most popular places to play PC games. This isn't to say that laptop gaming has surpassed desktop gaming, as the GeForce RTX 4060 desktop variant isn't too far behind. Still, the Radeon 780M shows that servicing the mobile and portable PC gaming sector is now more critical than ever.

And with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX dominance, the company's lack of an answer to mobile CPUs with integrated graphics could be a problem moving forward.

Here are the Top 20 GPUs according to the Steam Hardware & Software Survey results for August 2024.

1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 5.36% (-0.35%)
2. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU 4.41% (+1.30%)
3. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 3.80% (-0.08%)
4. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 3.39% (+0.49%)
5. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 3.33% (-0.14%)
6. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 3.31% (-0.05%)
7. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 3.06% (-0.28%)
8. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 3.06% (-0.35%)
9. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 2.86% (-0.16%)
10. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 2.81% (+0.06%)
11. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 2.71% (+0.11%)
12. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 2.44% (-0.24%)
13. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 2.10% (-0.16%)
14. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 2.09% (-0.06%)
15. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 1.93% (-0.11%)
16. AMD Radeon Graphics 1.93% (-0.06%)
17. Intel Iris Xe Graphics 1.93% (+0.01%)
18. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 1.51% (+0.03%)
19. Intel(R) UHD Graphics 1.43% (-0.05%)
20. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 1.34% (-0.06%)