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Boutique system builder Puget Systems released its annual report on the PC hardware it sold from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2022. The report provides a snapshot of what its customers have been choosing for their builds and how new hardware launches affected the market. The report covers AMD and Intel client CPUs, storage and OS preferences, and workstation versus gaming GPU sales (which we won’t get into). Though the report covers a lot of ground, the big news is in the CPU world, as it shows Intel crushing AMD with Alder Lake and AMD doing the same to Intel with its Threadripper Pro CPUs.
Puget’s latest report begins with the meat and potatoes: AMD versus Intel in the “client” segment. Backing up one step, way back in early 2021, Intel was trying in vain to battle Zen 3 with its ill-fated Rocket Lake CPUs, which was no contest. In October of that year, Intel launched its first desktop 10nm products with Alder Lake, which had been long-awaited by its customers after the 14nm debacle. It followed that up by launching the bulk of them in January of 2022, along with a good motherboard selection. In Puget’s chart, we see at precisely that time, the two lines converge, with Alder Lake sales taking off and AMD’s sales cratering. It went from 70% of client CPU sales being AMD to 70% Intel in just a few months. Puget notes that at the end of 2022, when both companies launched new platforms, they effectively canceled each other out and the existing sales ratios didn’t change.
Alder Lake certainly marked a sharp turnaround for the beleaguered company.
Credit: Puget Systems
Regarding workstation processors, we see three CPUs being tracked: AMD’s regular 3000 series Ryzen Threadripper, its 5000 series Threadripper Pro, and Intel Xeon. As you may recall, AMD killed its HEDT lineup by transitioning to the Pro version, which was OEM only and launched in Q3 of 2022. Puget dropped the older CPUs from its lineup as they were no match for the Threadripper Pro, and customers responded by ordering them in droves for custom applications. Just as Threadripper Pro sales picked up, Xeon sales fell even further. Overall, the year ended with Xeon only being responsible for 5% of its workstations, with AMD taking 95% of the CPU sales. It’ll be interesting to see if Intel can turn this around in 2023 with its new Xeon W lineup.
Puget says Xeon processor make up just 5% of its workstation CPU sales.
Credit: Puget Systems
Next, Puget tackles primary storage, which shows the rise of the M.2 NVME storage device. Most enthusiasts have gone from using a platter drive for our OS to a SATA SSD to an NVME drive, and the sales reflect that. In February 2021, NVME sales began to take off like a rocket ship, while SATA drives took a nosedive. That trend continues to the end of the year, with the two lines mirroring one another. During this time, according to Puget, NVME and SATA drives reached parity in pricing, making the decision a no-brainer for most people.
M.2 NVME SSDs are now the primary storage device for almost 100% of new builds.
Credit: Puget Systems
Finally, we turn to operating systems, a hot-button topic as of late because Windows 10 is still the dominant Windows operating system by a country mile. Despite that fact, people tend to gravitate towards Windows 11 for new builds, as the chart shows. Puget says it didn’t feel comfortable making Windows 11 the default option for its new builds until July 2022, nine months after it launched. At that point, the OS was stable enough and application compatibility issues had been largely resolved. Still, it says a lot of its customers still prefer Windows 10. However, as of March 2023 (not shown in the chart), it says 70% of its new builds are with Windows 11.
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