AMD Blames Internet Cafés for Underwhelming Steam Hardware Survey Stats
takyon writes:
AMD says Valve is underestimating its success in the Steam Hardware Survey
AMD's hardware - especially its processors - seem to be on a roll, but every month the Steam Hardware Survey, which publishes data on the type of hardware PC gamers using Steam are running, suggests AMD is failing to catch up with Intel and Nvidia - and AMD thinks it knows why.
In a recent interview for Hot Hardware, AMD's Scott Herkelman suggests that a bug introduced in August 2017 caused AMD systems be underestimated - and he suggests the problem is still affecting results.
The error involves Steam counting every individual login at internet cafes (which are particularly popular in Asian countries) as separate PC configurations. So, if 10 people log into Steam on a single Intel-powered PC at an internet cafi(C) - and opts in to the Steam Hardware Survey - then the survey will count it as 10 separate machines.
With AMD hardware not as widely used in internet cafes, Herkelman claims that this has resulted in AMD's hardware popularity being under represented compared to its competitors. This could explain why AMD seems to be doing so well recently - especially with its processor - yet recent Steam Hardware Surveys don't show a corresponding growth in AMD adoption.
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