With the launch of the RTX 5090, Nvidia and its add-in board partners set the tone for the rest of the GeForce RTX 50-series. And by that, I mean very low stock levels and almost at none whatsoever at Nvidia's suggested retail price. However, one key partner did launch its new GPUs with some MSRP models, but they've now gone the way of the dodo.
If you're not sure just what the suggested prices are supposed to be, let me remind you. Nvidia set the RTX 5090 at $1,999 and the RTX 5080, 5070 Ti, and forthcoming 5070 at $999, $759, and $549 respectively. MSI was one of the few add-in board (AIB) partners that offered some models at these prices, when it launched its own range of RTX 50-series graphics, but as reported by Videocardz, they're now nowhere to be seen on MSI's US online store.
The cheapest RTX 5070 Ti is $820, so that's 8% over the MSRP. It's a worse situation for the RTX 5080 and 5090, with the lowest price for each being $1,140 and $2,400—14% and 20% more expensive.
Now, an increase of 8% isn't enormous, but it doesn't really matter anyway. Because you can't buy them. In fact, you can't buy any of MSI's RTX 50-series graphics cards on its online store, because none of them are in stock. More importantly, the MSRP-labelled models were never in stock in any of the online stores I saw, and certainly none were around during the launch when we followed it in our live blog. I hasten to note that this doesn't mean they weren't on sale somewhere but you get what I mean.
In the case of the RTX 5070 Ti, the MSRP was always a questionable price tag because Nvidia hasn't made a Founders Edition of that model. One can get an RTX 5090 or 5080 at MSRP, in theory at least, by purchasing one from Nvidia or one of the retailers that are contracted to sell FE models.
Of course, manufacturers aren't contractually or legally obligated to offer any product at MSRPs or even maintain a price tag at that level after launch. Supply and demand ultimately determines what something will sell for, especially in the world of GPUs, but it's disappointing to see AIB partners wave a carrot on stick right before your eyes (or in this case, suggesting that there will be a carrot in the first place) and then yank it away before you stood any chance of nabbing said vegetable.
All of this makes me wonder if the RTX 5070 and AMD's Radeon RX 9070/9070 XT will fare any better. Smaller dies are easier to manufacture in bulk compared to the hulking slabs in the likes of the RTX 5090, so theoretically, stocks of Nvidia's and AMD's more affordable GPUs should be better. But given how badly everything has been going so far in the graphics card market, what stocks there will be are almost certainly going to vanish very rapidly.
Which means that, once again, the MSRP will just become some vague, 'inspirational' carrot. You know what? Forget the carrot and just give me the stick. I have an urge to thwack a few heads.
