After its big launch on Janaury 30, Nvidia GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards are near-impossible to find, with retailers expecting stock shortages for up to four months. With limited availability, it appears RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs are getting more expensive.
MSI and Asus official stores list several RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 units, and prices are now higher than at launch, as VideoCardz spotted. Now at Asus' store, an RTX 5090 Asus ROG Astral LC GPU retails at a whopping $3,409, when it originally cost $3,099. Not only is this a $300 increase in just a week, but its now over $1,400 more than Nvidia's starting price.
To put this into perspective, the RTX 5090 is priced from $1,999 (£1,939) and the RTX 5080 costs $999 (£979), as per Nvidia's official pricing.
As for MSI's store, an MSI RTX 5090 SUPRIM LIQUED GPU will set you back $2,789. In a previous leak, this was expected to be priced at $2,499, but it's now nearly $800 over the asking price. RTX 5080 units are also seeing a price jump, with the MSI RTX 5080 VENTUS seeing a $140 hike, now costing $1,139.
It isn't surprising to see custom GPUs from manufacturers bump up prices, since we've known to expect at least a 35% price increase on third-party GPUs. But now we're seeing up to a 70% price hike after launch day. Yikes.
Compared to Nvidia's MSRP, the RTX 5090 is selling for $300 to $1,400 over asking price, while the RTX 5080 is around $140 to $500 higher at MSI and Asus stores. Currently, all of these GPUs are out of stock
With close to non-existent availability and scalpers sweeping up units and selling them for shocking prices, it's a tough time to get your hands on RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs. This was to be expected, despite Nvidia stating it's "shipping more stock to retail every day," but seeing stores raise prices due to demand is an unwelcome sight.
Is it worth getting an RTX 50-series pre-built gaming PC?
Clearly, RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards are a hot commodity. As prices appear to be getting higher by the week for individual graphics cards, it may be worth getting an RTX 50-series pre-built gaming PC instead. Primarily because, well, you'll get a lot more bang for your buck.
As you might imagine, many of these RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 gaming PCs are now sold out — but not all of them. For example, there's an AVGPC with an RTX 5080, Intel Core i9 14900KF CPU, 64GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB SSD for $2,695 at Newegg. That's plenty of powerful parts you can use along with getting an RTX 5080, and it's completely up to you how you want to use them.
There's also a Yeyian gaming PC with an RTX 5080, Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB SSD for $2,799 at Newegg, and that's with a $300 discount.
If RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 prices start getting too high at official stores, gamers might find that investing in a new, pre-built gaming PC with an RTX 50-seres GPU may be worth it. Of course, these still have limited availability, but at least there are options ready to pick up.
Nvidia now lists several retailers for where to buy RTX 50-sereis GPUs, although many still have no stock. For now, if you're looking to start from scratch, check out our guide on how to build an RTX 5090 gaming PC. And check out our regularly updated where to buy RTX 5090 and 5080 guide for stock updates.
More from Tom's Guide
- AMD Fire Range Ryzen 9000HX CPUs in laptops set to release in March — with RTX 5090 GPUs
- I’m hyped for Snapdragon X2, but it must outmuscle Intel and AMD — 5 ways to do so
- We tested Nvidia’s RTX 5090 desktop GPU — gaming performance gains are HUGE
