Actually, the Steam survey says a bit different.
Dual-core systems are only a tad more than 36%, and Quad-core is a shade over 4%.

The bulk is still single-core systems (almost 60%).

That is for over 1.6 million discreet results, so it is rather significant of the market, I'd think.

I don't think that this is very alarming to be honest. I think next year is where we'll start seeing growth again.

Quite frankly the reasons i can come up with for this are lacklustre quality and speed incrementations for the current gen over previous gen cards, no need to upgrade graphics (with the exception of crysis and Vista usage - and even then a X1950 will do you fine for most games) and i also reckon that we're at one of those lulls in computer building/buying cycles. 

Every man and his dog went out and bought a Core 2 Duo system after release and many gamers will have also bought mid-high range graphics cards to go with them. As i noted above, the current crop of cards aren't really worth the price/performance gain over previous top of the line gen cards and so no one is going to upgrade their systems until the next cycle.... hence my prediction of next year. 

Maybe i'm wrong...

"Daamit" should be allcaps because component initials were once included in quatrain written by Adamson Rust.

As to market saggage, the highly reliable pounds are disproportionately askew causing top heaviness, teetering like a mad totter. If the organs are out of kilter, then the bagpipes yield excess play and the chicks come home to roost out of the frying pan who colludes with the pot in accusing the kettle of partaking in the black arts of tempests in teaspots. But I dae nae knaw whiten the price o stuff in Cheenae or India bees. The bucks dae nae stoop here. Me money's no good, an me name is MUD. An' tumbled massa in de ditch; He died. Jimmy cracked korn, and I don't care; Old Massa's goin away.

Luckily, computers are needed these days... they're right up there with cars and oil for alot of people. Because of this the market will never die, but it might become somewhat weaker for a time.

Is the last change in the Notebook market related to the falling prices on Laptops. 

First of all we have the Asus Eee, that have been a huge hit in the lowend market. Have this development made people wait until they could get hold of this superb little machine. A lot of customer had to wait for their Eee, and I still think other may wait for the new machine with Atom CPUs

And last year was the first ever where the really good GPUs are sold in a lot of quite powerful machines, in every segment. (Not only the high end gamer, and portable workstation segment). At very low prices, too. Most of the laptops with a mid-range GPU and mid-range GPU, dropped 30% or more in a year.

But I would still tell anyone I know to wait while the prices are dropping so fast, and while the chips are shrinking.


Obviously PC games drive sales. The communication between consumer, graphics card maker, and PC games builder is broken. I'm hating to go to a console.