How long until the 4060 takes over?
Updated: Apr 3, 2024 3:10 pm
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The RTX 3060 has been the most popular graphics card for a while now for PC gamers, at least according to the Steam hardware survey. It isn’t showing any signs of slowing either, but the 40-series of Nvidia GPUs is now making some gains to challenge the fan-favorite 3060 as users look to upgrade.
First thing’s first, the RTX 3060 doesn’t look like it is losing its top spot just yet. However, considering that the 4060 is similarly-priced and the non-Super 4070 is getting some generous price drops, we’re seeing these two newer GPUs shoot up in popularity. It’s only a matter of time until they take over.
Latest Steam survey shows RTX 3060 is still the most popular GPU
As you can see below, the top ten video cards from the March 2024 Steam hardware survey all belong to Team Green. No sign of AMD’s Radeon GPUs at all until you drop further down the list. There are still some pretty old GPUs featured here too, notably the GTX 1650 and GTX 1060 in third and sixth place respectively.
We have to note that the RTX 4060 is showing up in a big way – the same goes for the RTX 4070. These newer 40-series graphics cards do offer the benefit of DLSS 3 frame generation, which is a deciding feature for those that want to upgrade.
The similar price of the RTX 4060 makes it a good contender against its last-gen counterpart, even if you lose out on some VRAM with the 8GB model. Let’s compare just a couple of models below (prices correct at the time of writing):
Moving on to the RTX 4070 now, which has dropped in price thanks to the relatively recent release of the Super variant. For example, this ZOTAC RTX 4070 is now $70 lower than MSRP.
Which GPU has grown in popularity the most?
Luckily for us, Steam gives a very clear look at the data for some easy comparisons. One of the most important factors to think about is growth – which GPUs are getting more popular, and which are dropping off? Well, the interesting thing is that the RTX 3060 has grown in popularity the most as well. The table below shows the top 10 net increases.
No doubt that users are finally upgrading from their 10-series or 16-series cards as modern titles get more demanding and they want a budget option that keeps up.
