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32GB dethrones 16GB as top RAM capacity in gaming rigs despite memory shortage — AMD closes in on Intel with record 48.4% CPU share Gamers are seemingly willing to invest in their gaming PC despite crushing RAM prices. Despite being in the midst of an unprecedented memory chip shortage, it seems that gamers are still willing to invest in their gaming PCs to extract the best performance out of their favorite titles. The September 2026 Steam Survey results show that 42.22% of the surveyed units now have 32GB of system RAM — a 4.77% increase compared to the previous month — while 16GB configurations have shrunk by 3.38%, falling to just 37.82%. We’ve also seen increases in “weird” memory configurations — 24GB has grown to 2.56%, increasing by 0.34%, while 48GB inched up to 1.46% after a 0.26% increase. This comes as a surprise, as some manufacturers have reintroduced laptops with 8GB of RAM even as Microsoft called 16GB the new “practical starting point,” and recommended 32GB as the future-proof “no worries” configuration for gaming. It should be noted, though, that the company quietly erased this suggestion after it released 8GB base models for its Surface laptops a few months later. It’s quite possible that memory capacities were always destined to increase for gamers, especially as titles become more demanding. Minecraft, which hasn’t updated its system requirements for 17 years and is known for being potato-PC-friendly, even increased its recommended memory to 16GB earlier this year, forcing players on older systems to switch to the Java Edition or play retro games instead. Because of that, the memory shortage may have merely postponed the inevitable reign of 32GB RAM on gaming PCs. Another metric we’ve been following in the survey results is AMD’s slow but relentless march toward taking away Steam Survey market share from Intel. Team Red’s 48.37% market share across all platforms is the highest we’ve seen so far this year, with Team Blue now at just 51.63%. The May 2026 Steam Survey showed AMD at a little under 45% — at this pace, it’s possible that it will overtake Intel in just a matter of months. If we break it down by operating system, 52.59% of Windows users are on Intel, while 47.41% use AMD. Intel may have an advantage here compared to the overall result, but it’s just a tiny margin, and the trend shows that AMD is gaining ground month after month. The difference between Intel and AMD is more glaring when it comes to Linux users, with an overwhelming 66.18% preferring Team Red over Team Blue’s 33.71%. The Steam Survey is far from scientific and may not even reflect the broader movement of the overall PC market. But with Steam reporting a peak of more than 38 million concurrent players at the time of writing, the survey still offers a useful snapshot of what’s happening in the gaming PC market. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics. - Trake_17 The unfortunate secret that COVID unearthed was that Gamers will actually pay anything for their games. For a long time people thought they were savvy and shrewd because of how gamers put on a good show of complaining, but when the rubber meets the road, gamers pay up. It might not be for your game, but it's darn certain they will game. Nvidia is the dealer, gamers are the.... Well, you already know.Reply - ezst036 You kind of have to go to 32GB, Windows just doesn't work all that well with only 16GB. 16GB is only fine anymore for gaming if you are running Linux - or willing to switch to Linux to save that $money$. Reply - Neilbob I went 32GB DDR4-3200 many years ago at the beginning of 2021, but only due to modded Cities: Skylines. It cost £124.99, which would likely have been about the same in USD seeing as we get nicely shafted on the prices here in the UK. The same memory now, five years and ten months later, from the same vendor, costs £280.99. I have to assume as large part of this sudden uptick is just the Steam Hardware Survey being ... iffy, because for crying out loud. Reply - FunSurfer "AMD’s slow but relentless march toward taking away Steam Survey market share from Intel." That was happening while AMD offered X3D CPUs with no similar offering from Intel, but now Intel is working on desktop CPUs with a larger 144MB L3 cache too, and usually Intel CPUs' IPC is better than AMD CPUs, so Intel has a good chance to restore its former share. Depends on the prices, of course. Reply - thestryker I see the new top video card wasn't mentioned which puts this month's survey clearly in the "nope this isn't right" category. The RTX 5070 increased share by 2.3% becoming the number one GPU on the Sept survey.Reply - Black Red X I'm probably part of the reason. I got 96GB of RAM. I'm so glad I went overkill while RAM was still cheap. People told me that all I needed was 16GB on my first build and they were right until Baldurs Gate 3 came out. So I decided to go all out with RAM while I was upgrading my motherboard and CPU. Just so I don't have to worry about it again. Thank God and BG3. Reply - usertests Black Red X said:I'm probably part of the reason. I got 96GB of RAM. I'm so glad I went overkill while RAM was still cheap.Only users with exactly 32 GB would contribute to the 32 GB usage share. You would belong in the "More than 64 GB" category (0.53%). Not that Steam Survey can be considered reliable, anyway. Reply
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