It turns out thatMSIhas quietly increased the retail price of itsRTX 50-series(Blackwell) GPUs, including models that were supposed to launch at MSRP (viaHardware & Co). This impacts all three Blackwell GPUs released thus far: theRTX 5090,RTX 5080,andRTX 5070 Ti, though you’d be lucky to find any of the three in ready supply. Making matters worse, MSI’s lowest-priced RTX 5070 Ti is listed with a price tag of $820, with no model available at MSRP.
By definition, MSRP is a manufacturer’s suggested retail price, so Nvidia really has no way to enforce a consistent $749 price tag across all SKUs. AIBs, however, typically launch several MSRP and non-MSRP models, with the latter featuring premium features, enhanced cooling, and exotic designs. The problem is that the GPUs reviewed as MSRP models are no longer available at that price. The absence of a Founders Edition model from Nvidia further exacerbates this issue.
The MSI RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X launched two weeks prior at $749, compliant with Nvidia’s set MSRP. With MSI’s updated prices in effect, this SKU has climbed up to $899, 20% over MSRP, and that’s the lowest price you’ll see at resellers. It’s fair to say that the MSRP is no more than a suggestion. The cheapest model will set you back $820.
Imagine going through all that hassle only to find your GPU has missing ROP units, cutting performance by up to11%in some scenarios. You fire up an older title only to find that Blackwellno longer supports32-bit PhysX. At the same time, you’re constantly worried about whether your power connector isseated correctlysince Nvidia cut back onfailsafe measuresfor this generation.
AMD seems to be the answer with its $599RX 9070 XT, which is within 2% of the elusive RTX 5070 Ti.Rumorhas it that the RTX 5090 supply is expected to improve this month as Nvidia is reportedly shifting wafer supply from data centers to consumer-grade GPUs.
The budget $549 (fingers crossed)RTX 5070is arriving the day after tomorrow, and we’re eager to see how well supply holds up. Nvidia pushed this launch from February to March, likely to tackle the aforementioned production defects and improve inventory, but we’ll believe it when we see it.
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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
