More RTX 50-series price hikes show scalpers aren't the only problem
No matter the GPU you search for in the Asus Store, you'll be hard-pressed to find one actually selling at MSRP. That, in itself, isn't strange. Asus, being Nvidia's and AMD's board partner, makes its own versions of GPUs, and those cards often come at a premium due to things like more overclocking headroom or superior cooling. So, a higher price is to be expected, although AIBs should still offer a couple of models at MSRP.
A higher price is to be expected. It's the continuous price hikes that are worrying me.
As spotted by VideoCardz, Asus adjusted the pricing for its RTX 5090 graphics cards. The most premium model, the ROG Astral LC, stayed at its (already eye-watering) price of $3,410; that's the price you'll have to pay for a liquid-cooled card. However, the air-cooled model now costs $3,360, which is not much less than the one with the liquid cooler, and a whopping $280 more than it did before.
The TUF models went up in price, too. The overclocked model has now hit $3,000; meanwhile, the non-OC variant costs $2,760. Considering that the MSRP for the RTX 5090 was supposed to be $1,999, all of these are a far cry from what we started with in late January.
Even cheaper GPUs aren't safe from the price hikes. AMD's RX 9070 XT is completely unavailable at MSRP, all the while Nvidia's (supposedly) $550 goes up to $700 and beyond.
It's a tough time to be a PC gamer. Some RTX 5090 cards sell for up to $6,000, all thanks to scalpers — but those are few and far apart. However, the lack of availability compared to the big demand for the new GPUs is driving lasting price changes. We might see these GPUs drop down to MSRP one day, but I'm afraid it won't be anytime soon.
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