WTF?! Remember those halcyon days when the RTX 5000-series was announced and we were all shocked by the prices, especially the $1,999 RTX 5090. Now, the average price for the consumer flagship is pretty much $5,000, with one regular model hitting an actual $5,090.
As we noted in our recent graphics card pricing feature that shows just how quickly prices are rising, the RTX 5090 was around $4,900 in the US recently.
Prices for the card were up 20% over the past month and are now 41% higher than in February, by far the largest six-month increase of any card in the list. The massive increase since launch means it's now 145% above MSRP.
Just days later, RTX 5090 prices have climbed even further. It's at the point now where even regular cards have reached an apt $5,090 – the price of an Asus TUF Gaming OC.
There has already been a $5,090 RTX 5090 announced, but it's far from normal: The special-edition MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z, a 1,000W card that some describe as essentially an RTX 5090 Ti. The spec list includes two 12V-2x6 power connectors, a 3 oz copper PCB, a 40-phase VRM, and a carbon fiber backplate. It also has an attached AIO liquid cooler and an 8-inch display panel.
Now, though, that price has become the standard for many RTX 5090 cards.
But there's an even pricier RTX 5090: the Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 Edition 20. Another special edition card, Newegg lists it for $5,740. We recently covered the story of someone who paid $10,000 for an Asus anniversary bundle that included the card, only for the order to be inexplicably canceled, forcing them to pay an extra $500 for another one.
The question now is whether anyone even buying these cards? As we pointed out in our feature, the RTX 5090 is no longer fast enough, at least not when it comes to gaming at 6K on a monitor that supports the resolution.
What's just as concerning is the prospect of the RTX 5090's price, and that of pretty much every other graphics card, continuing to rise. It's little wonder that the RTX 5000 Super series seems to have been canceled indefinitely. And who knows how much RTX 6000-series cards will cost. An RTX 6090 for $6,090, presumably.