Nearly two years later, AMD’s RX 7000 GPUs don’t even make up 1% of Steam players

AMD’s latest RX 7000 GPUs may be some of the best graphics cards you can buy, but they aren’t popular among gamers, at least according to the latest Steam hardware survey. Only one of AMD’s RDNA 3 graphics cards even shows up on the survey, with the RX 7900 XTX occupying just 0.37% — down by 0.03% compared to last month. It’s worth noting that Steam doesn’t list every GPU represented in the hardware survey each month, but it at least lists every GPU that represents a decent chunk of players. For context, the lowest-ranking GPU on the list is AMD’s RX 5500 XT at just 0.16% of players. Other RX 7000 GPUs like the excellent RX 7900 GRE are likely represented further down, though with a share of only one-tenth of 1% or less. The vast majority of AMD cards that show up are from the last two generations of GPUs. The RX 6600 commands 0.71% of players, while the RX 6700 XT represents 0.61%. Even the the RX 580, which is over seven years old, shows up in 0.69% of PCs. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that these GPUs are still popular, especially given the lackluster budget-focused RX 7600 that AMD released this generation. Nvidia shows up more often overall, but its latest RTX 40-series GPUs are far more represented. The RTX 4060, despite some lukewarm reviews, is the second-most popular GPU on Steam, representing 4.44% of players. Similarly, the RTX 4060 Ti sits at 3.55% and the RTX 4070 at 2.82%. Even the RTX 4090, which regularly sells for above its $1,600 list price two years after releasing, represents 0.91% of players. AMD hasn’t been doing well this generation, despite some breakout hits like the RX 7800 XT. Late last month, Jon Peddie Research (JPR) reported that AMD dropped to only a 12% market share against Nvidia, which is down from the 17% it commanded at the same point last year. Worse, that drop came on the back of increased GPU shipments. In that same time period, GPU shipments increased by 47.9% overall, showing how AMD’s latest generation has struggled to catch on. The company has confirmed that it’s shifting its focus away from high-end GPUs in the next generation. AMD has confirmed that it’s working on RDNA 4 graphics cards, but we don’t know when they’ll arrive. Current reporting places the launch in late 2024 or early 2025, which is the same time frame that we expect to see Nvidia’s RTX 50-series cards. The list of the best graphics cards will probably look a lot different in a month’s time. We’re standing on the edge of the next generation of graphics cards, and it looks like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel all have big plans in store. At least from the conversations I’ve had, all eyes are on what the next generation of graphics cards has to offer before making an upgrade decision. That’s generally good advice — if new hardware is about to launch, there isn’t much reason to spend up for last-gen components. You’ll likely pay a higher price, and you could be missing out on some big performance gains. This generation, however, it’s important to temper expectations. Although the next generation of graphics cards is exciting, it probably won’t be a reality for most gamers anytime soon.
Always start with the flagships Valve has made a significant update to its Proton compatibility layer, which is the basis of the Linux-based SteamOS operating system on the Steam Deck. The update brings several improvements and bug fixes, but it also adds support for Nvidia’s coveted DLSS 3 Frame Generation. The update for Proton Experimental rolled out on November 12, and it was spotted by Wccftech. Proton is the bedrock for gaming on Linux, and up to this point, Nvidia users haven’t had access to some of the best features of Team Green’s latest graphics cards on Linux. The latest update not only supports DLSS 3 Frame Generation, but also Nvidia’s Optical Flow API. Optical Flow is critical for DLSS 3 Frame Generation, though the dedicated hardware for the feature has been around since Nvidia’s Turing GPUs. Nvidia and AMD make the best graphics cards you can buy, but choosing between them isn’t easy. Unlike previous generations, AMD and Nvidia trade blows point-for-point in 2025, and picking a brand to go with isn’t as easy as counting the dollars in your wallet. I’ve reviewed every graphics card AMD and Nvidia have released this generation, comparing not only raw performance, but also features like DLSS and FSR, ray tracing performance, and how VRAM works in modern games. After dozens of graphics card reviews, here’s how AMD and Nvidia stack up against each other in 2025.
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