So what on earth is going on?
Why are prices so high?
DoGeForce RTX 50andRadeon RX 9000series GPUs actually have fake MSRPs?
Where do things stand right now?
That’s exactly what we’ll be exploring in this GPU pricing update.
The average price for a premium AIB model was significantly higher.
Some retailers have even raised prices upon receiving restocks or worse, during release day further hurting consumers.
Both AMD and Nvidia initially planned to launch their new graphics cards earlier.
However, both launches were delayed Nvidia to JanuaryandAMD to March.
A similar situation occurred with AMD.
With the launches delayed, this process drained the market of GPU supply.
While this scarcity was not necessarily intentional, it was largely the result of unfortunate timing.
AMD GPU retailer rebates, how does it work?
While payment structures vary, money was exchanged with the expectation of a certain price point.
These rebates come in different forms, but the most common method is direct reimbursement to retailers.
Another rebate method involves compensating AIBs directly.
With the RDNA 4 launch, the early target price for the cards was quite high.
Then AMD announces that the official price is actually $600.
Ideally, this is how the system should work.
This is essentially what has happened.
This situation has frustrated both retailers and AIBs.
Retailers are frustrated by the rebate amount and the uncertainty surrounding how many units will receive rebates per shipment.
Of course, this is only part of the explanation.
The list goes on.
Why are prices still bad right now?
So what about post-launch?
Why are prices still high?
It takes time to ship GPUs.
List prices have increased because those prices reflect incoming shipments that were purchased at higher costs.
In that case, rebates would have been smaller and less disruptive.
Once those units are shipped to retailers, they would be available at MSRP without requiring additional rebates.
Thebadpath is if little to no effort is made to bring prices down.
Under these conditions, it would be reasonable to call the MSRP fake.
At this stage, it could go either way.
Whether or not this is true remains to be seen.
What about GeForce?
With Nvidia GeForce GPUs, we’re dealing with a different situation.
So what’s really going on?
Our take is that Nvidia’s statement is misleading.
It wasn’t until January 2023 nearly three months later that theRTX 4070 Tiwas released.
In contrast, with the 50 series, Nvidia released four models within five weeks.
Is that supposed to be impressive?
While combined 50 series shipments may exceed those of the 4090 alone, that’s hardly an apples-to-apples comparison.
Others may have skipped the 40 series and waited for an upgrade now that the 50 series has arrived.
We are pretty confident supply has been inadequate, even for a launch that hasn’t seen overwhelming demand.
These include Nvidia prioritizing TSMC 4N wafers for higher-margin server and workstation products and constraints withGDDR7 memory.
For theGeForce RTX 5070 Tiin particular, low supply could be explained by its die configuration.
If Nvidia iswaiting for defective silicon, supply will be constrained, leading them to prioritize the 5080 instead.
We’ve been told that 5080 supply is significantly stronger than the 5070 Ti.
This could help explain why RTX 5090s have been so difficult to find and why prices remain so inflated.
However, this wouldn’t affect supply for lower-end cards that lack AI demand.
These factors primarily explain the supply issues, but they don’t fully account for the extreme pricing.
We have no concrete evidence for why, when supply does arrive, pricing remains excessively high.
Most restocks have consisted of expensive premium models, especially for the highest-tier Blackwell GPUs.
Nvidia, however, does not seem particularly interested in doing this.
The RTX 5080 jumps from$1,000 to $1,200or even $1,300.
The RTX 5090 quickly climbs to$2,600and is essentially unavailable.
Is Nvidia controlling supply to keep prices high for as long as possible?
It’s certainly one possible explanation.
The one exception to these extreme price hikes is the RTX 5070.
Most shipments to retailers consist of premium models, available in limited quantities at inflated prices.
The rest of the models were even more disgustingly expensive high-end variants.
The RTX 5070 Ti is basically at that point now, too.
Just three weeks after launch, supply is very limited, and its MSRP is effectively meaningless.
Will things get better?
There are reasons to believe they will.
As always, we will continue monitoring the GPU market and holding companies accountable in the coming months.
This should provide a clear picture of which models offer the best value to gamers right now.
