Valve’s Statistical Data

Nov 18, 2007

Valve recently posted the results to their hardware survey. There are many interesting things that can be gleaned from the data:

  • At least 54% of users have broadband connections
  • 39% have 2GB or more of memory
  • 55% have Intel processors versus 45% with AMD
  • nVidia graphics cards are much more popular that ATI cards
  • 1280 x 960 is the most common primary display resolution
  • Embedded audio chips are more popular that stand-alone cards (I found this particularly interesting)
  • 84% of users are still using Windows XP

Lots more interesting data is available, so be sure to check it out if you're into that kind of thing. The results of another survey were also recently released. Statistics for Half-Life 2: Episode 2 are available for viewing. I particularly enjoyed the overhead maps that show where players die most often. I've got to believe that the developers at Valve think this kind of data is pure gold.

hardware pc-gaming
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2 Comments

kip

2:13 PM on Nov 19, 2007
I'm surprised by the 1280x960 resolution stat. I've never heard of that resolution, and according to Google Analytics, not a single visitor to my website or to my church's website (which I currently maintain) runs in that resolution. I am wondering if they rounded resolutions to the nearest 4:3 or 16:10 aspect ratio (all the resolutions they mention are one of these). Most LCD screens that I've encountered run at 1280x1024 natively, but that resolution isn't mentioned. And I find it hard to believe 1280x1024 makes up less than 1.3% of users. Further, the most common dual-monitor resolution is 2560x1024, which is what you get with two 1280x1024 displays are used. Which seems to confirm that 1280x1024 is a very common display resolution.

Jonah

2:30 PM on Nov 19, 2007
It's interesting that you point that out. I don't see an entry for 1280 x 1024, and that is indeed the resolution most folks with multiple monitors are using. The primary resolution segment of that survey seems a little misleading as a result... I remember running 1280 x 960 before in various game titles (the proper 4:3 ratio), but I prefer 1280 x 1024 if I can have it (since I still use a CRT, I can get away with stuff like this). I use 1600 x 1200 both in Half Life 2 and in Team Fortress 2, although I think I had to lower the resolution for Episode 2; the updated Source engine was a little much for my graphics card in high-res situations.

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