TL;DR: A graphics card's MSRP often serves more as a guideline than a fixed rule, as hardware partners frequently release higher-priced custom variants. With concerns growing over limited supplies of Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5090 and 5080, reports suggest that obtaining these cards at their manufacturer's suggested retail price may be even more challenging than in previous generations.
A leaker on the Chiphell forums recently suggested that Nvidia's board partners will struggle to sell custom RTX 50 series graphics cards at MSRP due to the high cost of GDDR7 memory. Profit margins are expected to be lower than usual.
As consumers eagerly anticipate the launch of the RTX 5090 and 5080 later this week, the Nvidia-manufactured Founders Edition variants have garnered the most attention. Although the company sells its in-house GPUs at standard retail pricing, they are expected to sell out quickly, leaving partner cards with various cooling and overclocking configurations as the only option.
RTX 5080 & 5090 AIB Price Leaked by PCPARTPICKER
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MSI, Gigabyte, and other vendors have revealed numerous custom options, but most GPU partners have yet to disclose pricing information. Almost all of the few price tags revealed thus far are hundreds of dollars above MSRP.
Several Gigabyte RTX 5080 models are currently listed on Best Buy, but only one, the Windforce, matches the $999 Founders Edition. Other options range between $1,199 and $1,399. Meanwhile, leaked prices from B&H indicate that Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte will sell the GPU for between $1,299 and $1,699. The flagship RTX 5090 starts at $2,000 but partner prices sit between $2,379 and $2,799.
A tipster on the Chiphell forums indicated that GDDR7 VRAM, included in every RTX 50 series GPU, is the main culprit. The new memory modules are faster but costlier than the GDDR6 VRAM used in RTX 40 series, Intel Arc Battlemage, and AMD Radeon RX 9000 cards, and the leaker suspects that board partners are shouldering the expense. In this scenario, the leaker said that selling RTX 50 GPUs is "like charity."
The RTX 5090 and 5080 are set to launch on January 30, and consumers have already begun camping outside Micro Center days beforehand. The RTX 5070 Ti and 5070 are expected to arrive in February for $749 and $549 respectively. Details on the RTX 5060 are forthcoming.
Additionally, AMD's Radeon RX 9070 XT and 9070 begin shipping in March, but their prices remain uncertain. Team Red's next-generation GPUs are expected to compete with the RTX 5070.
Expensive GDDR7 VRAM expected to push RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards above MSRP
