About 43% of players jumped an update from the Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) only to pay the rent, according to a new report of Liquid web.
From a survey of 1,000 PC players, Liquid Web presented several conclusions on what affects the purchase decisions of the players. And it is clear that they are now quite sensitive to the price. Liquid Web surveyed PC players to discover what drives the current graphic card decisions.
The company said that the cloud game is a way for players to deal with the high costs of updating to a new GPU every few years. The survey found that 62% of the players would go to the part of the game in cloud if the latency faded. This represents a sober recalibation of value, performance and permanence in games
World, said Liquid Web. Note that Liquid Web is a Premium Cloud and Cloud provider
Infrastructure solutions for digital companies, developers and creators.
The study explores how changes in price, performance and platforms such as IA and cloud computing affect the loyalty, perception of value and the future role of high -end GPU.
Increasing the AI is a change of this kind. This automatic learning technology improves lower resolution frames predinting and generating more real -time resolution details. Next to the cloud game, it is changing the way players evaluate the needs of the update.
From budget limits to brand confidence, our findings provide information on the priorities and pain points of modern PC players.
About 36% of players already use services such as GEFORCE Ara or Xbox XCloud. One in five believes that high -end GPUs will be obsolete within three years.
Death of the update cycle?
About 57% of players say they have been blocked from GPU purchases due to the rise in prices or prices. And 43% have postponed or canceled updates due to rent or invoices. Only 25% of players are willing to spend more than $ 500 on a GPU.
The influential are the new reference points, said Liquid Web. About 35% say that the influential or reviews moved them away from the specific GPU brands. And 36% changed GPU brands during an update, while 23% say that business controversy made them away from certain manufacturers.
Liquid Web said that financial pivots and technological pivots create a lot of tension. The update cycle is broken, as rental payments, cloud games and AI make GPU less relevant to Z Z. There is also the appearance of graphic light platforms such as Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite. These games have hundreds of millions of players, but they are not the most demanding when it comes to graphic realism.
About one in three players said they left a GPU brand because of the influential. This is not easy to do, considering that there are only three major GPU brands: Nvidia, AMD and Intel. The influence can overcome the specifications when it comes to players’ trust.
Methodology
Liquid Web surveyed 1,000 PC players based in the United States in May 2025 to understand their GPU habits, update barriers and opening to cloud -based alternatives. The average age of players is 34 years old, with 51% men, 46% female and 3% non -binary or another.
About 4% of respondents were boomers, 18% were gene X, 56% were millennials and 22% Z Z. Coverage included the 50 North -Americans and the 100 best subway areas. The survey included attitudinal issues, cloud use patterns and brand feelings grades. The analysis was supported in comparisons of Google Trends of 318 search terms related to GPU in American regions and large cities. The respondents were analyzed for the active participation of the game and the recent consideration or property of the GPU.
Other findings
Almost 3 in 4 players (73%) would choose nvidia if all GPU brands worked equally. More than one in four players (25%) say that $ 500 is their maximum budget for a GPU today. About 42% would jump future GPU updates completely if IA improvement services or in the cloud meet their performance needs.
Liquid Web said that the decisions of performance, price and loyalty of the brand. Players not only buy GPU based on brand loyalty. They also weigh performance, price and trust. Among the respondents, 36% had changed the marks during an update of the GPU, with 78% performance and 69% prices as main reasons.
A series of bar graphics show the results of the GPU preferences, factors for choosing the best GPUs, trust sources and update frequency among PC players. The most favorite brand is Nvidia, the most important factor is performance, the trust resource is Reddit/Online and a large majority of players keep a GPU 3-5 years before their update.
Nvidia remained the brand of choice for most, with 73% of players selecting -as a favorite GPU if all brands worked equally. This preference was especially strong among power users: 76% of Ultrawide monitor users and 66% of 4K players were based on Nvidia.
However, the feeling is not in stone. Around a quarter (23%) said recent controversies or business decisions made them less likely to support a brand. The influential also played a role, with 35% of players who said that the reviews or technological personalities have moved them away from certain manufacturers.
Almost one in ten players (8%) reported to regret a GPU purchase. These feelings were more often due to problems such as: driver problems (especially for AMD users); severely heating or strong cooling solutions; Undervaluing performance for the price paid; Incompatibility with VR or specific games; Short performance earnings.
“Players are pragmatic: value, reliability and innovation are more than brand loyalty. The brands adopting these changes will highlight in an increasingly demanding market,” said Brooke Oates, responsible for web liquid products, in a statement.
As GPU prices continue to increase, budget restrictions are pushing players to second -hand markets and updated delays. However, a GPU is still the most desirable update to some.
Almost one in four (23%) said it would be their higher selection if they could invest in a single component right now.
Survey data statistics show long-term confidence in GPU brands (Nvidia comes first), budget intervals (varies, with 27% of $ 500-699 respondents) and best money GPU models (varies between NVIDIA models, with RTX 4070 TI NVIDIA).
Purchase behavior reflects the fitting budgets of players. Almost half (45%) have opted for used or older models and 22% said they use drop trails or alert services to control prices changes.
Even for players willing to update -39% are planning to wait for one to two years, while another 37% said they would only replace it if their current GPU fails.
One in 7 players reported that GPU’s shortage has affected their game or productivity over the past year. The players are divided on whether the new features are worth it. About half believe that GPUs have managed to reduce returns, while half do not. The list of overvalued features was 8k of game (47%), ray crawl (17%) and generation of frames (11%).
Cloud game is reforming future demand
The demand for GPU among players in the future may seem very different as cloud services and AI technologies improve. Many PC players are already rethinking the need for hardware updates.
The results of the survey of the players’ attitudes towards cloud games, 42% would jump an update of the GPU for the cloud if it coincided with the performance and 62% would go to the cloud if the latency was zero. Nvidia Geforce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming are the most confident cloud game services, with 20% believing that cloud games will replace hardware GPU in the future.
More than two out of five PC players (42%) said they would jump a future GPU update completely if IA improvement services or in the cloud meet their needs. Almost two thirds (62%), including 62% of millennials and 61% of Z -gene players, would move to full -time cloud games if latency was eliminated.
Younger players showed the strongest inclination. Between the Z and the Millennials, 21% believed that high -end GPUs would be less essential in the next three years. More than a third of the respondents (36%) reported that they already used cloud games like Geforce now or XCloud from time to time.
If these trends continue, cloud performance can become a decisive factor in the GPU market, altering not only how games are played, but also if expensive hardware is still relevant, said Liquid Web.
Even for players willing to update -39% are planning to wait 1-2 years, while another 37% said they would only replace it if their current GPU fails.
“With players increasingly open to cloud solutions, collaborations or innovation in these areas, they could place the marks for the future,” said Oats
Economic restrictions push players to take more calculated options. The adjusted budgets, the second -hand markets and the skepticism towards functions such as the 8K game indicate a change in prestige performance to practical solutions.
At the same time, emerging technologies such as increased IA and cloud games are remodeling expectations. As hardware and software continue to evolve, the companies they win will be the first value innovation, solving real pain points around access, longevity and performance without breaking the bank.
“GPU and game suppliers need to rethink and address their value proposals. Accessible prices, trade programs or cloud game integrations could lead to long -term loyalty,” said Oats.
