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- Nvidia’s xx60 Series GPUs are well-known for topping Steam’s Hardware Surveys on a consistent basis.
- Even though the RTX 4060 and RTX 5060 are noticeably less appealing than its outgoing predecessors, the former has proven that brand loyalty comes first.
- Give the RTX 5060 a year or two and you’ll likely see it within the Top 3 ranks despite its insignificant YoY improvements.
Let’s be real: Even if AMD manages to outperform Nvidia in a certain segment of the GPU market, buyers will still probably show a tendency to purchase Nvidia GPUs.
That is exactly why I think you will probably see the RTX 5060 as one of Steam’s Top 3 most-used GPUs within the next couple of years—not because it’s the best GPU for the money, but because Nvidia has perfected the art of mindshare dominance.
History doesn’t lie. The GTX 960, GTX 1060, RTX 2060, RTX 3060, and RTX 4060 have all, at some point, sat comfortably in Steam’s Top 3 most popular GPUs.
And guess what? The RTX 5060 will probably follow the same script, even if it’s overpriced, power-hungry, and barely faster than its predecessor.
Why? Because Nvidia has turned GPU releases into a cult following, and AMD—despite its best efforts—still seems somewhat unable to break the spell.
The Unstoppable “60” Series Curse
Nvidia’s xx60 cards are like the iPhone SE of GPUs—not the best, but just good enough to sell hundreds of thousands.
- GTX 1060 (2016): The undisputed king, still lingering in Steam’s Top 10 almost nine years later.
- RTX 2060 (2019): Survived the crypto boom and still a staple in mid-range builds.
- RTX 3060 (2021): The “budget” Ampere card that somehow became a scalper’s dream.
- RTX 4060 (2023): Launched to universal disappointment, yet here it is, climbing Steam’s charts.
The pattern is clear: Gamers are more likely to lean towards whatever GPU Nvidia slaps a “60” on, even if it’s not as stellar a deal as the good old stalwarts like the GTX 1060 and RTX 3060 in particular were.
Why AMD Can’t Win, No Matter How Hard It Tries
AMD has done everything right in recent years:
- Better pricing (RX 7600 vs. RTX 4060)
- More standard VRAM (12GB on the RX 7700 XT vs. 8GB on the RTX 4060 Ti)
- Less scalping (RDNA 3 cards were scalped, but not as mercilessly as Nvidia’s offerings)
And yet, Nvidia still dominates Steam’s survey. Why?
DLSS & Ray Tracing: The Ultimate Mind Tricks
Nvidia has convinced gamers that DLSS is magic, even when FSR is nearly as good. They’ve made ray tracing a must-have, even though most people turn it off for better performance.
The RTX 5060 will barely run path tracing at 30 FPS, but Nvidia will market it like it’s the second coming of Christ—and maybe some people will believe it.
That said, the RTX 5060 is a perfectly viable card for 1080p gaming and even 1440p gaming if you limit the FPS to a count of 60 and turn down the settings a notch.
“Just Works” Bias
Ask any PC builder: Nvidia drivers “just work.” AMD has improved drastically, but the stigma remains.
The average gamer doesn’t want to troubleshoot—they want to plug in a GPU and forget about it. However, the irony is that Nvidia has been in hot water recently regarding its driver instability issues, but hey, the market forces still love Nvidia.
That’s because up till the RTX 30 Series, Nvidia had a rich history in its favour, but one must ask how long that reputation can withstand amidst the turmoil Team Green currently finds itself in.
Scalpers, AIBs, And The Illusion Of Demand
Let’s not pretend the RTX 5060 won’t see stock issues in the next few weeks. The RTX 3060 was selling for more than double its MSRP during the pandemic, and people still bought it. Why? Perhaps partially because FOMO is stronger than common sense,but also because the RTX 3060 saw the peak of the mining craze which led cryptominers to buy Nvidia’s Ampere GPUs in hordes.
Furthermore, Nvidia’s board partners (ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte) are notorious for releasing about 10 different overpriced “OC” models, further inflating the perceived value. Meanwhile, AMD’s reference designs will sit on shelves, relatively ignored.
The Steam Survey Doesn’t Reward Value—It Rewards Volume
The Steam Hardware Survey isn’t a measure of what’s best—it’s a measure of what’s most common. And Nvidia has spent decades ensuring their GPUs are the default choice for:
- Prebuilt PCs (Major OEMs like Dell, HP, and Lenovo usually default to Nvidia)
- Laptops (RTX 5060M will likely dominate gaming notebooks just like its predecessors)
- Casual gamers (who just buy whatever their friends recommend)
Even if the RTX 5060 is objectively worse than an RX 7700 XT, it’ll still outsell it 3:1—because Nvidia owns the market’s brainspace.
Then again, most people buying a RTX 5060 won’t be pushing it to the limit. Maybe they’ll just want it for 1080p gaming at medium to high settings, and of course, the RTX 5060 won’t break any sweats in doing that.
It’s Inevitable
I’m not saying the RTX 5060 deserves to be a best-seller. But history, marketing, and gamer psychology all point to one thing: It will be.
AMD could drop a miracle GPU at the same price, but most gamers would still pick Team Green because Nvidia has been the king of gaming during the late 2000s and the entirety of 2010s, which is why gamers tend to lean towards familiarity when they drop a couple hundred bucks on a graphics card.
So when the RTX 5060 inevitably cracks Steam’s Top 3 within the next year or two, don’t be surprised. Be disappointed—but not surprised.
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[Wiki Editor]
Ali Rashid Khan is an avid gamer, hardware enthusiast, photographer, and devoted litterateur with a period of experience spanning more than 14 years. Sporting a specialization with regards to the latest tech in flagship phones, gaming laptops, and top-of-the-line PCs, Ali is known for consistently presenting the most detailed objective perspective on all types of gaming products, ranging from the Best Motherboards, CPU Coolers, RAM kits, GPUs, and PSUs amongst numerous other peripherals. When he’s not busy writing, you’ll find Ali meddling with mechanical keyboards, indulging in vehicular racing, or professionally competing worldwide with fellow mind-sport athletes in Scrabble at an international level. Currently speaking, Ali has completed his A-Level GCEs with plans to go into either Allopathic Medicine or Business Studies, or who knows, perhaps a full-time dedicated technological journalist.
Get In Touch: alirashid@tech4gamers.com
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