Forget the connector; the real meltdown for NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 50 series could be the consumer market as prices jump across Asia. It’s been rumored that price hikes were inbound for the RTX 50 series thanks to NVIDIA reportedly having told its partners that memory kit bundles would cost more moving forward, and we’re now beginning to see changes happening overseas. The following is compiled from reports covered by VideoCardz over the past few days.
From South Korea, where it’s been said that some GeForce RTX 50 cards are going roughly 30% more, to Japan, where GIGABYTE cards jumped by 20%-40%, and China, where ASUS and GIGABYTE raised their prices by around 20%, it’s now established that the rumors are true. What’s worse, a practice somewhat common in the electronics industry but not exclusive to it, is that consumers are being warned that their pre-price-increase orders could be canceled. GIGABYTE notified its customers in Japan via retailer CFD-BIZ of price increases along with the possibility of cancelling outstanding orders.
Meanwhile, a now-deleted post on Reddit showed a claim from one customer who stated that their order placed through the NVIDIA marketplace for a premium ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090 had been cancelled. An image shared in the post showed NVIDIA support explaining that after it contacted ASUS, the order was cancelled due to the older price not being updated on time, and so the graphics card manufacturer would not honor the older pricing. For reference, ASUS was mentioned last week when its ROG Astral RTX 5080 and 5090 cards got increases on NewEgg. The aforementioned RTX 5090 jumped by roughly $600, and according to VideoCardz reports, now costs $5090 with tax.
As if all this isn’t unsettling enough, Japanese retailer Sofmap has told its customers that it’s best to buy now, as there is new uncertainty regarding future shipments for GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 cards. The retailer is also directing customers to consider used graphics cards, as it also offers a 3-month warranty for them.
Clearly, the PC enthusiast graphics cards market is entering the post-rampocalyptic era. NVIDIA products are not the only products expected to see increases, since it was recently reported that AMD is planning the same, and it’s anyone’s guess when the effects of the changes spread to the rest of the world, but it could likely be within weeks. It should also be noted that NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series refresh, aka SUPER, has had some new rumors recently suggesting it could make a debut in 2027, but at this point the real question will be for how much?
Discussion (19 replies)
Join Discussion →"Buy now or miss out" = FOMO
Yeah so who wants to buy one for me?
This sucks for anyone that was wanting a 5090 but decided to wait for prices to drop for the next gen to come out. I bought when I did specifically because I didn't see prices coming down and I don't see a next gen card to compete with the 5090 for QUITE some time.
This sucks for current owners as well because if you need a warranty claim you'll probably get a refund and asked to re buy at the higher cost.
The worst thing has been nvidia's attitude towards its customers. Started from the 4090 days when EVGA bailed out because nvidia was being very rude to them despite EVGA being a great company for consumers for so many years.
This has been my biggest worry with my rigs and laptop. All great at what they do, and I managed to get what I needed at, or close to MSRP and consider myself very lucky even if there was some added interest while I paid them off. However, they are all looking to be very longterm investments now and I really doubt I'll be able to afford any successor(s) for them when any become available.
I am hoping this won't be the death knell of the DIY Personal Computer, but I'm really afraid that this might be the end of the road. Support and enthusiasm has been on a downhill trajectory for a long time now. Not from you guys, of course, we are the enthusiasts around here - just in terms of general population and companies willing to make products for this niche.
I think that sometimes then I walk into a microcenter.
I don't think it's a death knell as a while but it is a direct shrinkage.
I still haven't seen one of these mythical stores....
I visited my first one last Monday. It is as awesome as everyone says.
Damage to your pocket? Unless you have the resolve of a Shaolin Monk.
Also, any photos?
That will be revealed soon.
They are very nice... My youngest (at 30) decided to start college to pursue a degree in architecture and their 6+ year old MBP wouldn't cut it...
Went and got them an MSI gaming laptop with 32 gigs of ram the new pro intel CPU, a RTX 5080 16gb, a little docking station, Razor KB, Mouse, and Headset, as well as a 27 inch 4k IPS monitor for their work. Fingers crossed it all go's well. Out the door was just under 4k all told with a 2 year warranty from Microcenter (which is not bad for what all it covers.)
It's nice having one less than 30 min away... but also no nice lol.
You were going great till you got the IPS monitor. Now the future architect will suffer from backlight bleed nightmares :D
I used to have to drive 3 hours to get to a Micro Center. Several years ago they started showing up in my state, including one about 20 minutes from me. Ironically that particular one replaced a CompUSA. Quite the upgrade, if you ask me.
If the light bleed is a problem the laptop is OLED and I wasn't about to spend OLED money on an external monitor. lol.