A sizzling potato: Laborious as it’s to consider, new graphics playing cards from Nvidia and AMD have gotten costlier. Asus is the most recent third-party producer to hike the costs of its RTX 5090 and RX 9070 fashions, with the previous card beginning at $2,759 and the latter at $719.
The present graphics card scenario is a repeat of what occurred through the pandemic-induced chip disaster just a few years in the past. Shopping for a brand new GPU is nearly unimaginable with out resorting to eBay, and retailers’ costs make a mockery of MSRPs.
Asus, for instance, has elevated the value of its GeForce RTX 5090 Astral OC not too long ago. It was already a whopping $3,079 firstly of February. Now, it is $3,359, a $280 enhance. Nvidia’s MSRP for the RTX 5090, keep in mind, is $1,999. And whereas high-end playing cards like this are costlier, the Astral OC was supposed to be $2,800.
Even much less premium fashions additional down the product stack are shockingly dear – and getting costlier. The TUF OC card is $3,000, and even the non-overclocked model of the cardboard is $2,759 after Asus elevated the value by $250 not too long ago.
Additionally see: GPU Pricing Replace Q1 2025 – Faux MSRPs?
It is not simply Workforce Inexperienced’s playing cards, both. Asus’ least expensive Radeon RX 9070 XT, which has a $599 MSRP, is $719 (Prime XT OC mannequin). If you would like the TUF XT OC model, be ready to pay $800.
Asus’ least expensive RX 9070, which has a $599 MSRP, is $659, whereas the TUF OC mannequin is $710.
A big video from our founder/CEO on the RTX 5090 pricing. pic.twitter.com/6GEvYFkD9K
– PowerGPU (@PowerGPU) March 13, 2025
It is not simply customers being pressured to endure excessive costs and just about no availability. Final week, Jese Martinez, CEO of customized PC builder PowerGPU, mentioned it took two to 3 weeks for his firm to obtain the primary batch of RTX 5090 playing cards following the flagship’s launch.
Martinez mentioned PowerGPU is being supplied RTX 5090s wherever between $3,050 and $3,100 for its programs. And that is not even for the high-end fashions just like the Asus ROG Astral; it is the value for low- to mid-range fashions. He says that whereas some shoppers complain they’re getting scalped by PowerGPU, it is the system builder that’s “getting scalped, actually.”
In what might be a glimmer of hope for players, AMD mentioned just a few days in the past that restocking the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT playing cards, and at costs that customers anticipate, is “precedence primary.”
H/t: VideoCards
