A hot potato: If you want a new graphics card and hope that prices have finally come down, here's some bad news: they haven't. In fact, several GPUs are selling for over 50% more than their MSRP. The RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 are the worst of the bunch in this respect. Not too surprisingly, 8GB cards are closest to their MSRP.
Gamers Nexus carried out its usual in-depth research into the current state of the graphics card market, looking at 420 listings across Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy.
Out of all those cards, only 20 of them were in stock and listed at the MSRP: eight RTX 5060, six RX 9060 XT (8GB), four RTX 5060 Ti (8GB), one RTX 5060 Ti (16GB), and one RTX 5070.
Looking at the overall picture, graphics cards are selling at an average of 31.8% more than their MSRP. The model with the biggest increase over its suggested retail price is the RTX 5080. Its $1,569 average is almost 57% higher than its $1,000 MSRP. The RTX 5090 isn't far behind (52.7% higher), followed by Intel's B580 (51.6%), B570 (50.8%), and AMD's 9070 XT (45.9%). It is noted, however, that Intel's results are slightly skewed due to one AIB partner, Gunnir, pricing its models much higher than other vendors.
At the bottom of the list is the RTX 5080 Ti (8GB), which is 12% over MSRP. The RTX 5060 is above it (13.1%) and the RX 9060 XT (8GB) next highest at 14.8% above MSRP.
The 8GB cards' positions come as little surprise given the lack of demand – we slammed these cards in our reviews. It was recently reported that German retailer Mindfactory had sold 16 times as many RTX 5060 Ti 16GB cards as the 8GB version. The RX 9060 XT 16GB, meanwhile, sold 30 times more units than the variant with half its VRAM.
Host Stephen Burke dedicates a section of the video to the RX 9070 XT. It launched with a $599 MSRP, but AMD managed this price point by providing retailers with a $50 rebate – a temporary perk.
AMD's Frank Azor denied this was the case, telling the press that "It is inaccurate that $549/$599 MSRP is launch-only pricing. We expect cards to be available from multiple vendors at $549/$599 (excluding region-specific tariffs and/or taxes) based on the work we have done with our AIB partners, and more are coming. At the same time, the AIBs have different premium configurations at higher price points, and those will also continue."
But three months after launch, the RX 9070 XT has only one of 26 listings priced at MSRP, and it isn't in stock. GN also notes that at launch, Newegg and BestBuy had a combined 27 RX 9070 XT models listed, with six at MSRP. Out of the 21 listings that have remained since then, 71% have had their prices increased, including five of the six that launched at MSRP.
Burke wraps up the video by pointing out that MSRP has all but lost its relevance – today, even entry-level partner cards sell at mark-ups higher than those once reserved for flagship models just a few years ago.
Most graphics cards still priced way above MSRP, led by Nvidia's RTX 5080 and 5090
