HWBOT statistics show that Nvidia is making a return in terms of popularity. Last month 56,7% used an Nvidia GPU, but in the first months of 2010 it was well below 50%. Ati is now at roughly 40%, but it was higher than 50% in the first months of 2010.

AMD's ATI graphics unit took 51 percent of the standalone, or "discrete," graphics chip market compared to Nvidia's share that was just shy of 49 percent, according to Mercury Research, a Cave Creek, Arizona firm that tracks graphics chip shipments. This is a sharp reversal from the same period a year ago when Nvidia had about 59 percent of the market and AMD had just under 41 percent.

Total market figures for the second quarter of 2010 had Intel with a 54.3 percent share, AMD with 24.5 percent, and Nvidia with 19.8 percent. This, also, is a setback for Nvidia: in the second quarter of last year, Nvidia had a 29.6 percent share compared to AMD's 18.2 percent.

Nvidia warned Wednesday that revenue would fall short of earlier projections. The warning came a day after Apple moved its iMac and Mac Pro lines to AMD graphics chips, dropping Nvidia.