- The Asus ROG Astral LC RTX 5090 tips the scales at $3,409
- Some other RTX 5090 and 5080 models also command a hefty premium over MSRP
- Stock of these GPUs remains vanishingly thin anyway
Nvidia’s RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs are off to a shaky start, not just because of the fact that these new Blackwell graphics cards aren’t available to buy – they sold out immediately, more or less – but also due to pricing on third-party boards.
Wccftech has been scanning pricing across the Asus and MSI Blackwell ranges, and the findings will likely scare, if not terrify, gamers out there who are mulling a high-end GPU purchase.
When stock does come back in – there are smatterings of live pre-orders here and there right now, but not much else, although be sure to keep an eye on our guides on where to buy the RTX 5090 and also the RTX 5080 GPU – price tags are looking seriously steep.
The crown for the most eye-watering price of all is awarded to the Asus ROG Astral LC RTX 5090, a behemoth of a flagship that admittedly pulls out all the proverbial stops (the ‘LC’ refers to the incorporated liquid cooling system), but it’ll set you back $3,409 in the US currently at the graphics card maker’s own store.
Even the cheapest RTX 5090 GPU that Asus currently sells, the TUF Gaming model, is a weighty $2,749, which is over a third more expensive than the MSRP as set by Nvidia (and the asking price for its Founders Edition). Remember, this is the base model from Asus, you can’t go any lower.
At least with the RTX 5080, there is an Asus model at the MSRP of $999 on its web store, the Prime model – so that’s something. If you want the TUF Gaming model of the RTX 5080, though, this will set you back $1,484, quite a hefty hike for a variant that isn’t a top-end card. (The ROG Astral, air cooled, RTX 5080 touches $1,649, all prices correct at the time of writing).
MSI does somewhat better at keeping a lid on pricing, but there are some difficult to swallow price tags nonetheless. There are no RTX 5080 models at MSRP on MSI’s US store, and the cheapest is the Ventus 3X at $1,139, although that’s not a big jump. The top-end RTX 5080 Suprim Liquid SOC is pitched lower than the Asus ROG Astral, though, at $1,499.
MSI’s RTX 5090 graphics cards kick off with the Ventus 3X which is at $2,379 on its store, more reasonably priced than the baseline flagship from Asus, but still a 20% hike (almost) over the MSRP. If you’re looking at the RTX 5090 Suprim Liquid SOC, though, this graphics card is an eye-watering $2,789 on the MSI store.
Analysis: Okay, so a liquid-cooled flagship was never going to be cheap, but…
Before the new Blackwell graphics cards emerged, the prediction was that they could be priced considerably higher than the MSRPs. And that has indeed broadly come true, although part of the problem here is that third-party board makers seem to have inflated prices even further after all the clamor and stock shortages around the RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs.
As an example at the highest-end, the mentioned Asus ROG Astral LC RTX 5090 is the priciest of all Blackwell GPUs at $3,409. However, it was announced at $3,100 (on Reddit, and caused quite a stir at that price), so somehow, there’s been another $300 heaped on top of the already exorbitant asking price.
I’m not impressed with these kinds of shenanigans as it’s bad enough that stock is stupidly difficult to get hold of, and scalpers are causing huge price inflation by reselling RTX 5080 and 5090 graphics cards, without the actual board makers themselves deciding to try and push even harder for profits.
Is this just market dynamics – a reflection of thin supply and big demand? Well, yes, it is to an extent, and doubtless pricing will settle down eventually anyway, if you can be patient. (Indeed, there are still some big question marks over how long we might be waiting for pricing to even out to a more acceptable level overall).
Meanwhile, it’s clearly true that asking prices remain something of a moot point seeing as there are hardly any RTX 5090 or 5080 graphics cards for sale at all, whether at recommended pricing, or third-party pricing.
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