The hardware sector for workstations underwent significant transformations in 2024, with new technologies, key releases, and shifts in preferences among manufacturers like AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA. In its annual report, Puget Systems, a leader in custom workstation manufacturing, breaks down the trends and key data that defined the past year.
Processors: AMD Gains Ground Against Intel
2024 marked a turning point in the competition between AMD and Intel. While Intel had led for years in the “client-class” processors (Intel Core and AMD Ryzen families), AMD began to recover ground, closing the year with nearly 40% of sales in this segment. This was driven by the launch of the AMD Ryzen 9000 and the relatively low impact of the Intel Core Ultra 200S, combined with instability issues with the 13th and 14th generation Core processors.
In the “workstation-class” processor segment (AMD Threadripper/PRO and Intel Xeon W), AMD maintained its absolute dominance, with 90% of sales in 2024. The introduction of the Threadripper 7000 and PRO 7000WX at the end of 2023 further solidified its position, while Intel’s Xeon W managed only 10% of the market.
Graphics Cards: NVIDIA Maintains Its Leadership
NVIDIA continued to dominate the GPU market for workstations, with 80% of sales going to its GeForce line and 20% to professional GPUs in the RTX series. Despite the growth in sectors such as artificial intelligence and virtual production, the proportion between consumer and professional GPUs remained stable.
Operating Systems: Windows 11 Consolidates
The transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11 finally solidified in 2024. With 90% of workstations configured with Windows 11, Puget Systems eliminated the option for Windows 10 at the end of the year. On the other hand, Linux showed steady growth, representing 10% of workstation sales and a majority in server systems.
Storage: Higher Capacity as a Key Trend
The average capacity of primary storage devices (for the operating system and applications) in workstations grew to just over 2 TB in 2024, a 25% increase compared to 2023. While NVMe drives are the standard for both primary and secondary storage, SATA drives and traditional HDDs are only used in very specific cases.
The breakdown shows that the most common size remains 1 TB (45% of sales), but 2 TB drives are gaining popularity rapidly and are expected to reach a similar share in 2025. Higher capacity drives, such as 4 TB and 8 TB, also saw a slight increase, especially in secondary storage roles.
RAM: More Diverse Configurations and Higher Capacities
The average RAM capacity in workstations increased from 135 GB in 2023 to 150 GB in 2024. Configurations of 64 and 128 GB were the most common, but new options, such as 96 and 192 GB, gained traction towards the end of the year.
Larger capacities, such as 256 GB, continued to grow in popularity, especially in systems with AMD Threadripper and Threadripper PRO processors. However, extreme configurations like 512 and 768 GB only accounted for 5% and less than 1% of sales, respectively.
Conclusion: 2024, A Year of Transitions
2024 stood out for the resurgence of AMD in the processor market, the consolidation of Windows 11, and the trend towards hardware configurations with greater storage and RAM capacity. The next year will be crucial to observe whether AMD continues to gain market share and how demand evolves in sectors such as artificial intelligence and content creation.
The hardware industry continues to evolve, and with the arrival of new technologies in 2025, further changes in user preferences and needs are expected.