Steam survey suggests more players are using gaming PCs with over 1TB storage

Chonky drives take the lead

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

It’s no secret that new releases take up more storage space than ever, but the latest Steam survey implies most players are using drives over 1TB. While stats for February don’t delve into whether people are keeping their games on a modern SSD or a traditional hard drive, they do show a shift away from 500GB solutions.

Building agaming PCin 2024 normally means at least considering thebest SSD for gaming. Not only do system requirements for many new releases explicitly list using solid state for installation, but on a hardware basis, you’ll find that most motherboards are designed to accommodate a M.2 drive as standard. That said, capacity is just as much of an issue as today, and considering the likes of Call of Duty can take up over 200GB on their own, opting for a fast and small drive is arguably no longer viable.

If you have a peek atSteam Hardware Surveyresults for February 2024, you’ll see that players using SSD of hard drive over 1TB increased by 4.59%. The jump brings the number of sampled builds using larger storage to 56.57%, with every other range taking a dip compared to previous months. Notably, only 18.25% of users are seemingly using drives between 250GB and 499GB, while just 3% are rocking something with between 500GB and 749GB.

Even without the jump in users this month, over 1TB would have accounted for over 50% of drives using Steam. However, the increases are significant, as they suggest that using storage in the gigabytes is becoming a thing of the past. Of course, Steam Hardware Survey results aren’t infallible, and the figures could be simply down to this ground of sampled players using larger hard drives and SSDs by chance. Nevertheless, It’s not what I’d call a small jump, and I suspect we’ll see more rigs with chonky capacity being used to run games throughout the year.

Thinking about upgrading your storage? We’re constantly checking out the latest SSD options, and ourCrucial T700 Pro Gen 5 SSD reviewputs one of the fattest to the test. I personally also upgraded my Steam Deck SSD using aWD Black SN770M, so you’ll want to swing by that review if you’ve got revampingValve’s handheld on your mind.

Looking for console flavored storage options? Check out thebest PS5 SSDandbest Xbox Series X hard drivefor compatible solutions. Alternatively, take a peek at thebest external hard drivesfor a way to take your library on the go.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

I’ve been messing around with PCs, video game consoles, and tech since before I could speak. Don’t get me wrong, I kickstarted my relationship with technology by jamming a Hot Wheels double-decker bus into my parent’s VCR, but we all have to start somewhere. I even somehow managed to become a walking, talking buyer’s guide at my teenage supermarket job, which helped me accept my career fate. So, rather than try to realise my musician dreams, or see out my University degree, I started running my own retro pop culture site and writing about video games and tech for the likes of TechRadar, The Daily Star, and the BBC before eventually ending up with a job covering graphics card shenanigans at PCGamesN. Now, I’m your friendly neighbourhood Hardware Editor at GamesRadar, and it’s my job to make sure you can kick butt in all your favourite games using the best gaming hardware, whether you’re a sucker for handhelds like the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch or a hardcore gaming PC enthusiast.

It’s more important than ever to find a gaming headset with a great mic this Black Friday

Does Alienware do Black Friday sales?

The genuinely scary demo for this PS1-style survival horror game is like Silent Hill mixed with FromSoftware dungeon crawlers and it’s worth canceling your Halloween plans for