Who is the modern PC gamer? A look at GalCiv III players

This is higher than I expected. It suggests to me a high % of hardcore players, but maybe multiple monitors are more common than I realize.

I have one monitor playing games and another monitor so I can trade!  :)

Others have one monitor for the game and the other monitor so they can watch porn.  

 That pretty much nails my system. 

I will go SLI next year and get two monitors. I made a post about 4K monitors and Frogboy chimed in and said to wait till they show up with Display port 1.3. I have yet to see any but the refresh rate would be like 120hz. I dont know if current video cards or GCIII can support it but I am willing to invest in one (a 4k Monitor) when the eventually come out. 

Galactic Civilizations III is one of the first of the “new generation” of natively 64-bit, DirectX 11 games.  More importantly, it is both critically acclaimed and a best seller meaning that the hardware requirements of this game, while non-trivial, are not so high as to prevent it from being commercially successful.
We got the Steam hardware results on tens of thousands of Galactic Civilizations III players. Let’s take a look.
So what do they have?
Operating System

1. Windows 7 (42%)
2. Windows 8.1 (28%)
3. Windows 10 (25%)
4. Other (trivial)

 

Interesting.  That means 5% gamers using Linux type OS.  Big numbers for an OS where "big" games are nearly non existant.  And DX11 does not work yet on Linux (will work with some emulation-type software later this fall, apparently).  Maybe in the not so distant future, it would be worth it for game developpers to support Linux.

I wonder, does a game like Galciv3 (not terribly graphically intensive) would benefit from an API like Vulkan or DX12?  And if you decide to adapt Galciv3 to one of these next generation API, which one would you lean to?

dual monitors for me

That's interesting.

Is there any source that can provide stats on usage of >60Hz monitors/GSync/Adaptive Sync? I know they're still very uncommon, but they make a big difference and they're being pushed by a lot of monitor makers.  It's a pity that the Steam, Unity, and now GalCiv III hardware surveys don't have any information on it.

The stats are for GalCiv3 players, and GalCiv3 isn't available on Linux or OSX.  The 5% must be older versions of Windows.

I wish he broke out the % above 16GB

Me, too.

Well, so much for being "unique" with my system: ASUS Maximus VII, i7 4970K @ 4.4, GTX 970 SSC, 32GB G.Skill DDR 2133, Win 7 Pro, Track IR5, Warthog, CH Pro Pedals, CH Throttle Quadrant, 2 MFCDs, 32" Bravia & 2 19" Syncmaster monitors

its not that surprising.  fuel monitor outputs (vga/dvi with an hdmi especially)has been ridiculously common for Years now & it's not uncommon to see lcds go for <50$. Regardless of if it's an impulse buy replacement, extra, or upgrade for a several year old one... Multiple monitors just is not as big of a deal as it was 10-15 Years ago when only the most obsessive flightsim fans had them to go with their military surplus joystick, throttle, & pedals.

Whoa, I'm below average in many ways now.. that's depressing! 

I had dual monitors 10-15 years ago too, it's hard to get anything done with just one. :)  I had this sweet 1600x1200 native resolution NEC for a primary, it was beautiful, and 80 pounds.  People that don't have them just haven't learned yet, it would be impossible for me to function efficiently on a single display even if I were just using my system to play around and didn't make a living on it.  If I ever get around to setting up my shelving so I can get rid of this damned printer, I'll be running three 27 inch displays and using every bit of them when I'm working.

Perhaps I a not so modern, although I do score in #1 in every list Frogboy posted.  What are the reasons for having multiple monitors?  Seriously...  (besides having documentation, guides, etc easily available on the 'other' monitor. 

I have a laptop that I use (when at home) with an external monitor.  When using the external monitor, I don't use the laptop screen, because of the constraints of my desk setup.

Out of curiosity, am I being counted as having multiple monitors in these stats?

Even if you're just playing a game without any resources at hand, what if you're waiting for someone to pop online?  Alt tabbing out every time someone logs in is a pain in the ass, especially if the game hangs up on alt-tab.  With your lists on a second screen, in plain sight, you don't have that problem.

A lot of people in stuff like MMO's will keep info up on a second screen, crafting recipes, drop lists, etc, hardcore strategy game players can be running spreadsheets for stuff like rations and fuel supplies.

Quoting psychoak, reply 13

I had dual monitors 10-15 years ago too, it's hard to get anything done with just one.   I had this sweet 1600x1200 native resolution NEC for a primary, it was beautiful, and 80 pounds.  People that don't have them just haven't learned yet, it would be impossible for me to function efficiently on a single display even if I were just using my system to play around and didn't make a living on it.  If I ever get around to setting up my shelving so I can get rid of this damned printer, I'll be running three 27 inch displays and using every bit of them when I'm working.

Yea, there were people  who  did back then but it was more extreme due to size/cost/etc and support was not as good. I have two monitors at home (like a 15-17ish & 19-21ish) and 4 26 inch at work

I'd love to see galciv3 do something like showing planet/shipyard/diplo/etc screens with the main monitor keeping on the galaxy scape interface as a quick (?) multi monitor interface enhancrment.  If the optional split allows for serious improvements beyond that once it's  broken in, great.. but that small step would be huge

I play in one monitor and surf the web/take notes/debug (for modding)/other things on the other monitor.

6 core/64 GB for my system.  I know, I know.  But I had the chance to get a long term PC last year, and I decided I wanted to future proof it for a while.

The dual monitors setup comes quite naturally. Most computers people buy today tend to be laptops. Using just the laptop screen gives a miserable game-experience and because about all modern televisions have HDMI inputs as standard the natural solution is to hook up your laptop to your high-def TV to get a big screen for enjoying the games. This frees up your laptop screen so why not use it as a second screen? Presto, you have a dual monitor setup.

Having web browser, teamspeak, steam, etc. open on the second is the main reason. Of course this also requires that games support fullwindow/borderless mode, to be able to swap without minimizing.

It makes a much bigger difference for productivity than games, though. I run 4 monitors (if you include the laptop itself) at work, which lets me have outlook, multiple instances of visual studio, documents, etc., all on screen at once.

The OS stats are absolutely irrelevant.

For example, I am a heavy linux and FreeBSD user (I do my work on Linux and FreeBSD), but I dual-boot to Windows for gaming. So any gaming survey will see me as a Windows user, which is not true, the games that exist for Linux and are performing adequately, I will play under Linux. 

1280x800 ftw! (that said.. i don't play galciv3)

Not really a surprise seeing relatively high ram systems, etc. Pc s today are not half as expensive to build or put together as some seem to think. In fact it`s easy and cheaper for a person of modest means to build a decent gaming rig way more powerful than any say, console and able to do lots of other things than just gaming. My pc is not only a gaming rig but also a work rig.

I'm a MacOS user myself, dual boot to Win 8.1 for GalCiv3. 

Good question.

I have one, so... that's 1 person... <crickets>