AMD's Radeon RX 9070 16 GB graphics card design launched along with a more capable and popular XT sibling, three months ago. Since then, the first wave of RDNA 4 desktop gaming products have hovered above suggested price baselines—much to the chagrin of brand champions. Yesterday, Germany's ComputerBase highlighted a brief fluctuation in elevated trends. Team Red's general European MSRP—for Radeon RX 9070 cards—is €629, including VAT. A price fluctuation report observed (on June 3): "Alternate.de is currently selling an XFX QuickSilver RX 9070 OC Gaming Edition for the first time at €613 (inc. VAT), thus below the MSRP. The (ComputerBase) editorial team was alerted to this by the community, and the bot for prices and availability for Radeon RX 9000 now also show this offer." Naturally, graphics connoisseur will scoff at this unusually low offer—after all, a mild upcharge grants access to the superior Radeon RX 9070 XT tier (MSRP: €689). The slightly cheaper option does have supporters; mainly due to its more energy efficient operation.

Members of the HotUKDeals community have become obsessed with finding deep graphics card discounts; a lucky few have boasted about acquiring current-gen AMD-based flagships at well below recommended price points. Several discerning customers have taken advantage of anomalous listings, and roundabout utilization of various eBay promotion codes. Pleasingly, a dual-fan Sapphire PULSE RX 9070 16 GB model floated just below British MSRP (£569.99, inc. VAT). Amazon UK's stock—of this barebones option—was quickly depleted, thanks to a tempting £10 reduction. Until the emergence of a current-gen Great Radeon Edition (GRE) design, (generally) AMD's Radeon RX 9070 model was considered an odd duck. A permanent price cut could raise its profile in the future.

PowerColor introduced four custom Radeon RX 9060 XT options during Computex 2025; consisting of standard black mid-range Hellhound and entry-level Reaper models. The dark 16 GB and 8 GB launch lineup will be joined by Spectral White sibling in the near future. The manufacturer's China website was updated with three pale alternatives at some point last week. Currently, only the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Hellhound Spectral White SKU has made tracks over to the Taiwanese brand's global web presence. The company's Navi 44 XT GPU-based portfolio is not expected to welcome premium-tier Red Devil entries, so the current collection—of seven distinct offerings—will suffice.

Curiously, the two Reaper models seem to differ in terms of clock speeds. As noted by VideoCardz, this specification disparity reflects a recently reported difference between Yeston's Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB and 8 GB GAEA SKUs. Almost akin to patterns exhibited by the Chinese AIB's baseline MSRP conformant products, the PowerColor Reaper 16 GB card seems to boast greater game and boost clock digits when compared to its 8 GB sibling: +90 MHz and 100 MHz (respectively). At first, Yeston's GAEA spec charts were believed to contain placeholder info or anomalous data. The appearances of comparable PowerColor examples indicate an advantageous position for certain 16 GB GDDR6 VRAM-equipped models.

Earlier in the week, Yeston revealed a sci-fi/cyberpunk character-themed Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Game Ace SKU. Eager followers of the Chinese brand were wondering whether additional custom designs—based on AMD's Navi 44 XT GPU—were in the pipeline, possibly ready in time for an official June 5 launch. In Yeston's case, they expect to start shipping on June 7—exclusively for the Chinese market. Fortunately, several dual-fan "GAEA" and triple-fan "Game Ace White" models have turned up on Yeston's JD.com storefront. VideoCardz has pored over the fundamentals, and quickly realized that there are key differences—in terms of GPU clock speeds—when cross-referencing entry-level/barebones GAEA 16 GB and 8 GB card specifications.

The latter variant seems to exist as Yeston's absolute baseline MSRP option; its pre-order tag is 2499 RMB, including VAT. Curiously, pre-launch info seems to show the 16 GB sibling (2899 RMB, inc. VAT) possessing elevated boost and game clocks: 3230 MHz and 2620 GHz (respectively). The lesser model makes do with Team Red's reference figures: 3130 MHz and 2530 MHz (respectively). VideoCardz believes that this is an isolated case; they have not stumbled upon similar spec disparities between product family members—be it with other AIBs or within Yeston's stable. It could be safe to assume that Yeston's product pages contain inaccurate or placeholder numbers.

Prior to AMD's official unveiling of the Radeon RX 9060 XT series, Sapphire's Computex booth teased a forthcoming lineup of custom graphics card options. Hours later, the TechPowerUp crew inspected freshly wall-mounted specimens. To the surprise of many, the Hong Kong-based manufacturer is readying a premium Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB NITRO+ SKU for launch time (on June 5). The usual suspects—in PULSE and PURE guises—were also exhibited within the walls of the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Centre. Not long after the closing of ceremonies, Sapphire China's JD.com store has opened up pre-orders for six launch day products.

Yesterday, a VideoCardz investigative piece delved into pre-release price points (including VAT). Keen potential customers can secure finalized retail units via a deposit system; demanding a 50 RMB (~$7 USD) upfront fee. Unsurprisingly, the largest tag is affixed to Sapphire's triple-fan 16 GB NITRO+ model—3299 RMB (~$458 USD). This top-tier option sits 800 RMB above Team Red's suggested guideline. The AIB's barebones dual-fan Radeon RX 9060 XT PULSE 8 GB package adheres to official MSRP: 2499 RMB (~$347 USD). Their PULSE 16 GB model sits almost in the middle of the lineup—in terms of pricing—at 2899 RMB (~$402 USD). VideoCardz believes that another PULSE color/finish variant will emerge, at some point post-launch—bringing the total number of items up to seven distinct products.

EK Water Blocks showed us an exciting solution at their Computex 2025 booth, with the unveiling of its Quantum Surface Kinetics 240, an all-in-one liquid‐cooling kit that marries two 120 mm Quantum Surface radiators with the company's signature Quantum Kinetic pump-and-reservoir module. The dual‐radiator array leverages a thin, high‐density micro-fin design to allow for ample heat dissipation while remaining just 30 mm thick—ideal for cramped mid-tower builds or even ITX systems. At the heart of the loop sits EK's Quantum Kinetic DDC pump and reservoir combo, now showcased in a newly refined, transparent acrylic housing. The integrated fill port and machined aluminium top cap feature customizable RGB channels, while the visible coolant pathways highlight EK's precision flow engineering. EK has pegged the Quantum Surface Kinetics 240 at an MSRP of $360. While not being like a traditional AIO design, it will allow PC enthusiasts to get much more creative with their water-cooling setups and both and reduce the setup difficulty of custom loops.

On the road to glory and the brand's 25th anniversary in 2026, SteelSeries, the global leader in premium gaming and esports peripherals, today unveiled the Rival 3 Gen 2 and Rival 3 Wireless Gen 2 gaming mice. Building on the legacy of the original Rival mice, which debuted in 2013, the new generation of mice marks an evolution of the beloved Rival 3 Series, delivering top-tier speed, all-new performance, and durability at an accessible price point in the "affordable luxury" category.

The award-winning Rival Series mice have been the staple gaming peripheral for players entering the PC gaming arena for the first time, making them true "game-changers." Crafted for versatility and durability, the Rival 3 Gen 2 and Rival 3 Wireless Gen 2 are the marathon performers in the world of gaming mice, offering a battle-tested design powered by precision-engineered mechanical switches that are guaranteed for 60 million clicks. Speed is key, and an ultra-optimized 1.35 ms (wired) and 1.9 ms (wireless) click latency, combined with fast TrueMove Optical Sensors that have been co-developed in collaboration with PixArt, plus 100% PTFE feet for ultimate glide, deliver near-instant responsiveness for lightning-fast reactions and pixel-perfect accuracy.

HYTE's brand-new X50 cases series was revealed at Computex 2025; with variants divided into premium (glass) and "Air" (mesh) lines. According to preview material, (respective) guide price points are $150 and $120—subject to regional VAT, and the effects of changing tariff conditions. The more expensive options feature very colorful designs, along with 4 mm thick "laminated acoustic glass"—the brand has dubbed these as: "Cherry" (red), "Matcha Milk" (green), "Pitch Black," "Strawberry Milk" (pink), and "Taro Milk" (purple), and "Snow White." The cheaper X50 Air SKUs are only available in black or white finishes. Color-matching 120 mm Flow FA12 fans were also on display at HYTE's booth; rated up to 1500 rpm.

As reported last week, webstores have mistakenly listed unannounced board partner Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics cards. At the time, only model names and identifiers (SKUs) were inadvertently leaked out—roughly a fortnight ahead of a speculated official unveiling at Computex 2025. By the end of last week, VideoCardz had picked up fresh intel from its readership—Amazon had published XFX Swift Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB GDDR6 (triple-fan) and 8 GB GDDR6 (dual-fan) pre-launch prices and basic specifications. These NDA-busting pages have been removed, but the online publication has preserved crucial details. AMD's alleged reference boost clock for this GPU class is 3230 MHz, but XFX is reportedly tuning matters up to 3320 MHz. Considering that Swift is XFX's casual/entry-level product grade, higher end options could be overclocked beyond that figure.

Amazon.com revealed (likely placeholder) prices: $519.99 for the XFX Radeon RX 9060 XT OC 16 GB Gaming Edition (triple fan), and $449.99 for its twin-fan sibling. Team Red is expected to introduce official guide prices (MSRP) next week; possibly during a May 21 presentation. As discussed by VideoCardz, the leaked XFX numbers are a tad too steep—relative to main competition; NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti family. Starting at $429 for 16 GB GDDR7 VRAM, and $379 for 8 GB GDDR7 VRAM. momomo_us has gathered additional evidence of Radeon RX 9060 XT custom card prices; the intrepid industry watcher pointed out an unnamed Swiss e-tailer's listing of two Acer Nitro SKUs. The overclocked 16 GB and 8 GB models were inadvertently marked with 556.70 and 508.30 CHF (respectively) price tags, including regional VAT. Converting to (USD) ~$660 and ~$603, respectively. VideoCardz noted that these offerings are about 20 - 27% cheaper than Acer's already launched Radeon RX 9070 (non-XT) cards.

Best Buy USA has updated its webstore with a "PNY GeForce RTX 5060 Overclocked 8 GB GDDR7 PCI Express 5.0 Graphics Card with Dual Fan" black edition card. NVIDIA and several of its board partners have already revealed forthcoming products, but a firm launch date was not announced during "GeForce RTX 5060 Desktop Family" introduction week. Inside track knowledge indicates a potential unveiling at Computex 2025; specifically on May 19. VideoCardz believes that GeForce RTX 5060 (non-Ti) evaluation samples were distributed well in advance of this month's big hardware conference. Two weeks ahead of an alleged simultaneous unveiling/retail launch, a barebones dual-fan PNY factory overclocked offering has appeared online. Best Buy's advertised $299.99 price point hovers just above Team Green's $299 starting line. A reference specced equivalent is present within TechPowerUp's GPU database; will retail outlets sticker this one with a just below $300 tag?

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB design received very little fanfare last month—certain members of the media had to fork out cash from their own wallets ($379 MSRP), in order to secure units for review purposes. Non-TI 8 GB (GB206 GPU-based) cards are not expected to receive widespread critical acclaim, but potential mainstream buyers could be enticed by "perceived value for money." Interestingly, PNY's mid-April "GeForce RTX 5060 Family" PR material teased a forthcoming "Single Fan RTX 5060" model. No promotional renders were provided, but Best Buy's listing has included an exploded depiction of the AIB's dual-fan solution. The contained (and suitably) stubby board design could be transferred quite easily to a smaller enclosure. Unlike GIGABYTE's recently uncovered short configuration, PNY has opted to go with a regular length PCIe interface.

It appears that Wester Digital is getting ready to launch a new performance NVMe SSD in the shape of the WD_Black SN8100, as the drive has tipped up online. Oddly enough, it's not branded as a SanDisk drive, at least not in Europe where the drive is listed for pre-order. It was first spotted by @momomo_us on Amazon Germany, but the company only had the 1 TB SKU listed and a little bit of sleuthing on our side, quickly found the 2 TB and 4 TB SKU's listed with various etailers around the world.

It seems like WD has decided to use the Silicon Motion SM2508 NVMe SSD controller for the SN8100, although this has as yet to be verified and it's likely to be an OEM version of the controller without markings if true. The SN8100 is said to deliver read speeds of up to 14,900 MB/s and write speeds of up to 14,000 MB/s, with the 1 TB SKU being a bit slower at 11,000 MB/s. It should also deliver up to 2,300K IOPS, for both read and write operations. In Europe, the MSRP currently appears to be €200, €300-310 and €550-560 respectively for the different SKUs, which is a massive increase over the SN850X, but in line with recently launched PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs like the Kingston Fury Renegade G5. It's also listed for C$374 and C$560 for the 1 TB and 2 TB SKUs respectively by a Canadian etailer and £170, £260 and £455 in the UK for each of the three SKUs. The official launch date is the 30th of May according to Amazon.

At some point this week, the population of ASUS GeForce cards has grown again. In a very quiet manner, the brand has added over twenty new SKUs to its Team Green portfolio. The Taiwanese company seems to be catching up with a nearby AIB rival—since February, MSI has stealthily expanded its graphics card library. It will likely take a while—for PC hardware news outlets—to comb through everything, but momomo_us and Wccftech have put spotlights on two compelling "White Edition" spin-offs of already launched ASUS GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB and RTX 5070 12 GB custom models. The manufacturer's TUF Gaming division is best known for running with an industrial/military aesthetic on mid-tier positioned products—a standard palette combines gunmetal gray tones, silver highlights and minimal ARGB lighting zones.

The freshly introduced TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB GDDR7 White OC Edition will be deployed with the exact same specifications and "military-grade" components present on its traditionally-shaded sibling. In a similar manner, the new PRIME GeForce RTX 5070 White OC Edition 12 GB GDDR7 SKU leverages a repeat of original model specifications. The ASUS global website does not provide pricing or availability details, at the time of writing. Under normal circumstances, PRIME graphics cards were intended to be "baseline MSRP" conformant. It is not clear whether this white-hued + overclocked variant will hover close to NVIDIA's recommended GeForce RTX 5070 starting level: $549.00. Unfortunately, both of these brand-new almost "all-white" setups do not extend to contained PCB designs—we are probably looking at standard model boards. Gaming graphics card enthusiasts have heaped praise on PowerColor; thanks to their inclusion of suitably pale PCBs within "Spectral White" products.

Earlier this week, AMD carried out a surprise unveiling of its Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB graphics card model. Prior to then, mixed messages—delivered via the usual insider sources—pointed to a myriad of possible launch windows within 2025. Despite claims of the RDNA 4 generation's debut "Great Radeon Edition" getting bumped into the latter half of this year, VideoCardz produced evidence of PowerColor readying Red Devil and Reaper SKUs for imminent arrival at retail outlets in China. Currently, Team Red and board partner participants have opened up pre-orders—finalized Radeon RX 9070 GRE products are due to launch on May 8; as Chinese market exclusives. A small selection of ASUS, PowerColor, Sapphire and Yeston custom designs are on the way—mostly reusing familiar shroud and backplate IPs.

Surprisingly, ASUS has opted out of redeploying current-gen PRIME and TUF Gaming Radeon enclosures. During AMD's official RDNA 4 "Great Radeon Edition" introduction day, the manufacturer revealed their lone custom GRE option: an ATS Megalodon SKU. VideoCardz has gathered new details—from ASUS China's official website and local e-commerce platforms. "ATS-RX9070GRE-O12G Megalodon" pre-orders are available with a 4199 RMB launch price point; aligning directly with AMD's recommended baseline MSRP. This factory overclocked card features a fairly basic 2.5-slot thick triple-fan cooling solution, but the company's marketing team has emphasized the utilization of phase-change GPU thermal pads. Certain previous-gen (NVIDIA-based) Megalodon models were hyped up with "Back To Future" (BTF) connectivity, but the forthcoming ATS Megalodon Radeon RX 9070 GRE is a relatively barebones offering.

AMD has officially announced the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, the China-exclusive high-end RDNA 4 gaming GPU, along with a May 8 pre-order date. As with previous iterations of AMD's GRE GPUs, the RX 9070 GRE is a trimmed-back version of the higher-tier models, with both less VRAM and fewer compute units than its other RDNA 4 counterparts. Along with the official announcement and the May 8 release date, at least one pre-order retail listing has been spotted online, with retail prices coming in at 4499 CNY ($617 converted). The retail unit in question is an ASUS tri-fan card, so it comes in slightly above the claimed 4199 CNY MSRP.

According to the specifications released by AMD, the RX 9070 GRE features 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with up to 432 GB/s bandwidth. Instead of the 56 compute units found in the Radeon RX 9070, the 9070 GRE has 48 CUs, which should make it a fair bit slower than the 9070 and 9070 XT. However, the GPU boost frequency has been bumped up to 2,790 MHz on the 9070 GRE, from 2,520 MHz on the RX 9070. AMD claims the new GPU is 6% faster than the RX 7900 GRE in "more than 30 games." The RX 9070 GRE also features a standard 2×8-pin power connector, so no need to worry about melting 12VHPWR cables. Much like the other RDNA 4 GPUs, the RX 9070 GRE has launched without a first-party reference design, meaning it may become difficult to find MSRP variants of the 9070 GRE.

On April 15, NVIDIA revealed its "coming soon + starting at $299" GeForce RTX 5060 8 GB graphics card model—along with the freshly launched GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB and 8 GB cards. Not long after that, board partners introduced entire custom GeForce RTX 5060 Series product ranges. To the surprise of many, Team Green's mid-month PR material seemed to place a lot of emphasis on the cheapest offering. VideoCardz reckons that public demand for launch day GeForce RTX 5060 cards is not expected to reach high levels, but NVIDIA seems to be readying a simultaneous retail release and lifting of review embargoes. According to inside track information, May 19 appears to be the big day of choice.

Clever day one maneuvering could be in play—VideoCardz outlined a potential strategy: "this approach means customers may purchase the card without prior access to independent performance data. In other words, gamers will have to rely on NVIDIA's official benchmarks, unless they want to risk not being able to buy the card at MSRP." Team Green's mid-April "desktop family" marketing piece did tease the GeForce RTX 5060's Tensor and RT Core performance (respectively): 614 AI TOPs and 58 TFLOPS—versus RTX 5060 Ti's 750 AI TOPS, and 72 TFLOPS. Insider whispers suggest that AMD is readying rival hardware for release within a similar time frame; Radeon RX 9060 XT. The competing companies could be making important new product announcements just before the start of Computex 2025 (on May 20).

Earlier today, NVIDIA's public relations department published their "GeForce RTX 5060 Desktop Family" introductory article. Curiously, the company's brand-new GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards do not headline Team Green's "dedicated" PR release—instead, the general "game changing" GeForce RTX 5060 series is advertised with a starting price point of $299. Clarification arrives several paragraphs deep into the blurb—as explained with some "PR" magic: "starting April 16th, we're bringing DLSS 4 and Blackwell's suite of innovations to every gamer with the launch of the GeForce RTX 5060 desktop family, beginning with the release of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. And in May, the GeForce RTX 5060 arrives, with prices starting at $299." Very specific cost of ownership digits leaked last week; indicating a refreshing reduction over earlier (disappointing) predictions.

Team Green's publicity team has confirmed starting MSRPs of $429 for 16 GB models, and $379 for 8 GB variants. These official numbers are buried three-quarters of the way into NVIDIA's PR document. Older evidence pointed to a possible repeat of lower end GeForce RTX 40-series guide prices—as it turns out, the GeForce RTX 5060 card's $299 "cost of entry" aligns with its predecessor's launch figure. Based on leaked pre-built PC listings, industry watchdogs deduced the $299 MSRP earlier on in the month. Additionally, Team Green's PR material teased the upcoming launch of related mobile hardware: "the same features, innovations and advantages of the GeForce RTX 5060 desktop family are coming to laptops this May, when GeForce RTX 5060 laptops arrive on shop shelves, starting at $1099." Real life scenario prices are expected to remain "sky-high," even for rumored cheaper devices—equipped with GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile GPUs.

Not too long after delivering its in-depth Switch 2 showcase, Nintendo of America and retail partners postponed pre-launch reservations for the forthcoming hybrid gaming console. An official announcement stated: "pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged." The vast majority of industry watchdogs reckon that company will be assessing an adjustment of launch day product MSRPs. Last week's North American presentation outlined price points of $449.99 and $499.99; for a standard package and a Mario Kart World Pack (respectively). Theorized adjustments could extend to physical copies of games, as well as accessories; e.g. the Switch 2 Pro Controller.

Gamers further north—in the neighboring nation of Canada—were relieved about last week's alert being non-applicable to their market region. Up until yesterday, pre-orders were on track at CA$629.99 (base console) and CA$699.99 (with Mario Kart World). Unfortunately, the House of Mario's Canuck branch has confirmed that recent events have had a knock-on effect for local customers. As disclosed in a statement to MobileSyrup, Nintendo of Canada explained: "pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada will not start on April 9, 2025 in order to align with the timing of pre-orders to be determined in the U.S....Nintendo will provide updated information at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged." MobileSyrup's report was updated yesterday evening; with links to social media bulletins posted by the regional arms of Walmart and GameStop. Both retail outlets repeated Nintendo of Canada's disappointing message.

NVIDIA has confirmed that its Verified Priority Access (VPA) program for the GeForce RTX 50 Series remains active following its initial announcement two months ago. The program allows a limited number of US-based GeForce account holders to purchase RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 Founders Edition cards directly from the NVIDIA Marketplace. The VPA scheme was introduced three weeks after the RTX 50 Series launch to address supply shortages and high reseller prices. Initially, two months ago, users with NVIDIA Accounts created on or before January 30, 2025, at 6 AM Pacific Time, could register their interest through an online form. Invitations would have been emailed to qualifying account holders, with the first notifications scheduled for next week.

This pilot program applies only to US GeForce users and is limited to the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 Founders Edition cards. The recently released RTX 5070 Ti is not included and must be purchased through AIB partner custom designs. NVIDIA has not disclosed how many priority access slots are available or whether the program will expand internationally. All we know is that an NVIDIA representative on Reddit posted, "VPA for the GeForce RTX 50 series Founders Edition graphics cards has not ended," responding to an alleged VPA program rumor that it has ended. If the US pilot is successful, the company may consider adding more markets and product lines. Eligible users should watch their inboxes for an invitation to buy at the original MSRP.

Next week's planned launch of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti series brings two SKUs differentiated by memory capacity and pricing. Both models leverage the GB206‑300 GPU, made on a 5 nm node from TSMC, and feature a 128‑bit memory interface paired with GDDR7 chips running at an effective 28 Gbps. According to IT Home, NVIDIA has communicated MSRP figures to its key AIC partners ahead of the mid‑April rollout. The entry‑level 8 GB variant is set at an MSRP of ¥3,199 (roughly $379), while the 16 GB version carries an MSRP of ¥3,599 (about $429). This is a reduction from the $399 and $499 prices anticipated earlier. NVIDIA is adjusting its pricing strategy for these mid-tier chips to align itself against the competition better and draw more new buyers.

Under the hood, the GB206‑300 core activates 36 streaming multiprocessors, delivering a total of 4,608 CUDA cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2,407 MHz, boosting to 2,572 MHz under load. Memory runs at 1,750 MHz (28 Gbps effective), routed through the 128‑bit bus to yield up to 448 GB/s of bandwidth. Graphics‑specific throughput is augmented by 144 texture mapping units and 48 render output units, while 36 dedicated ray‑tracing cores handle real‑time lighting calculations. Additionally, 144 tensor cores accelerate AI‑driven workloads such as DLSS upscaling and machine‑learning inference. Power delivery for both cards is managed via a single 16‑pin connector, with a total board power of 180 W. Display connectivity includes one HDMI 2.1b port alongside three DisplayPort 2.1b outputs, and the card interfaces with host systems over PCI Express 5.0 x16.

While we are used to gamers buying GPUs over their MSRPs just to get the latest and greatest, it appears that there are some limits to that. According to a Redditor, who pictured a Microcenter hardware store in Dallas, Texas, there are full shelves of ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090 GPUs with AIO liquid cooling. Instead of the usual sold-out reaction, gamers are drawing a line at these $3,719 GPUs, leaving shelves full of GPUs retailing for almost two times their MSRP. Despite being a flagship model with great performance (we tested an air-cooled ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090 version), all its bells and whistles aren't convincing enough for gamers to justify spending almost $4,000 on a single GPU. It could be the unusual 360 mm radiator that is difficult to accommodate in most cases or the case where gamers have started waiting for more realistically priced GPUs.

Interestingly, the regular air-cooled variants like the ASUS TUF version or the air-cooled Astral OC are nowhere to be found, as these models are priced much lower, with the TUF version carrying a $2,450 and Astral OC air-cooled version carrying a $2,800 MSRP. Of course, while these cards are not being sold at MSRP, they are likely being sold for much less than the Astral LC version, which nears the $4,000 price point. It appears that gamers are stopping the trend of paying astronomical prices over MSRP and are waiting for the supply to improve so prices can come down. In the past period, one tracker of RTX 5090 listings on eBay, averaging data for 30 days, noted that the flagship RTX 5090 tops the chart with a staggering $4,222 on secondary markets compared to its $2,000 MSRP, an increase of roughly 111%. We hope the supply situation improves and that MSRP prices with slight premiums for high-end designs make a return.

ASUS and MSI's price hiking of GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards is already a well explored subject matter (news-wise), but GPU market watchdogs have spent time investigating circumstances further down from the perch of NVIDIA's most visible board partner players. Citing evidence presented on the official Team Green subreddit, VideoCardz has levelled criticism in ZOTAC's direction. Apparently, the brand's North American store has—quite recently—jacked up asking prices for its custom GeForce RTX 5090 designs. The Hong Kong-based manufacturer only offers a choice of two models via its US webstore: SOLID OC and AMP Extreme INFINITY. At the time of writing, ZOTAC's webshop is undergoing "construction work"—fortunately, screenshots and crucial points of info were preserved by Redditors and media outlets. The flagship AMP Extreme INFINITY SKU has hit an unprecedented $2999.99 price point, although not reaching the heights of ASUS Astral ($3359.99!). A mid-March Wayback Machine save state reveals a previous RTX 5090 AMP Extreme INFINITY listing at $2599.99, but its initial launch price was $2499.99. Naturally, a flagship design—comprised of a robust cooling solution, fancy features/accessories and ARGB lighting—demands a premium upcharge, but ZOTAC's top-tier SKU is priced $1001 above Team Green's $1999 MSRP baseline.

ZOTAC's GeForce RTX 5090 SOLID (non-OC) SKU was supposed to act as the "barebones" baseline MSRP-conformant model, but price watchers noted that ZOTAC USA had removed this entry from the official webstore. Tom's Hardware reckons that the last recorded cost of ownership was $2199.99. ZOTAC's next best option is the brand's factory-overclocked variant—GeForce RTX 5090 SOLID OC—now adjusted up to $2699.99. Launch pricing was somewhere just above $2200, but that figure has changed over time. It was $2369.99, prior to this week—according to a Wayback Machine archived state. As reported last month, ZOTAC rolled out a "Priority Access Campaign" via Discord—this anti-scalping strategy received praise upon initiation, but VideoCardz's watchful eye has kept track of very few successful transactions. According to their latest investigative piece, a "top secret" ZOTAC Discord group was formed—this separate elite member-focused channel offers even "easier access" to coveted cutting-edge gaming graphics card.

Tom's Hardware just published an intensive data collection of online prices of the latest GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA, suggesting that real-world prices are nowhere near MSRP. With an investigation into the 30-day eBay average price based on listings, the data shows that a lot of GPU SKUs are retailing for well-above-average price premiums. The data tracker also looked for the best-priced listing of a specific SKU. For instance, NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5070 is seen retailing at around $700—a 27% increase over its official MSRP of $550—while the RTX 5080 pushes these premiums even further by selling at over 50% above its suggested price. The flagship RTX 5090 tops the chart with a staggering $4,222 on secondary markets compared to its $2,000 MSRP, an increase of roughly 111%.

In contrast, earlier models like the RTX 4060 and RTX 4060 Ti show relatively minor inflation, with increases of only about 3% and 5%, respectively, according to recent eBay averages. Still, selling years-old GPUs at MSRP today proves that there is demand. On the AMD side, the Radeon RX 9070 series is no less dramatic. The base RX 9070, with a $550 MSRP, averages around $817 in real-world sales—a nearly 48% premium—while its high-end sibling, the RX 9070 XT, jumps to approximately $1,001 from a $600 MSRP, marking an increase of roughly 66%. Early figures even suggest that first-week sales for the RX 9070 series were ten times higher than those of previous AMD models, justifying the price surge. AMD is working on addressing this supply, which should improve in April, and NVIDIA is working with AIB partners, too, to deliver more Blackwell GPUs.

Graphics card price watchers have highlighted refreshing downward motion in Europe, apparently affecting three out of the four GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards. VideoCardz received a couple of email tip-offs from its pan-European audience, prompting the publication of a short investigative piece. NVIDIA's slight adjustment of official pricing for GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 models is the result of a strengthened Euro. The US dollar's value has dropped by roughly 3.9 %; according to recent detective work, focusing on German trends. Team Green's "generous" reductions have arrived roughly two weeks after a stabilization of the USD-EUR exchange rate.

Curiously, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is an outlier here—NVIDIA did not reduce its German guide price (€879 + VAT) for this upper-mid-range offer. A Founders Edition does not exist at this GPU level, so Team Green has tasked its board partners with the creation of so-called "MSRP conformant" alternatives. One of VideoCardz's tipsters has observed various GeForce RTX 50 series models simply "rotting on shelves," due to potential buyers balking at unreasonable retailer-implemented price hikes. NVIDIA's minor changes (4.3 to 4.6 %) are unlikely to make a noticeable impact across the Euro zone.

Officially, NVIDIA has only revealed mobile variants of its GeForce RTX 50 "Blackwell" GPU series going down to RTX 5070. At CES 2025, Jensen Huang's keynote presentation proposed a $1299 entry point for GB206-equipped gaming laptops—rated up to 800 AI TOPS. As demonstrated by recent market trends, "MSRP" recommendations are widely viewed as whimsical recommendations (at best). Pre-orders for upper crust to mid-range GeForce RTX 50-series laptops opened up on February 25, but the missing ROP (Raster Operations Pipeline) problem has seemingly spread to Blackwell's mobile offshoot. Reports suggest that necessary investigations have pushed initial customer-bound deliveries into April. Presumably, unannounced lower end products—in GeForce RTX 5060 and RTX 5050 Mobile form—are similarly delayed.

Earlier today, momomo_us—a notable source of pre-launch information—unearthed an alleged "Razer-authored" new product document. The American-Singaporean brand appears to be preparing a multitude of Razer Blade 16 (2025) SKUs, with a series identified as "RZ09-0528." The leaked MSRP guide contains a major error; Razer's forthcoming flagship model—powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 "Strix Point" APU and GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile GPU—will not arrive at retail/e-tail with a $1499 price tag. Focusing on the opposite end of Razer's chart, VideoCardz highlighted the $1999 OLED-equipped SKU—featuring a Ryzen AI 9 365 processor and Team Green's unannounced GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile GPU. The speculative steep asking price is not a big surprise, given the expected tagging on of Razer "premium tax." Mid-way through last week, "lowly" GeForce RTX 5050-powered laptops were accidentally listed by retail outlets. The cheapest offering was advertised with a $1720 (including VAT) price point—based on these recent (possibly unfinalized) data points, industry watchdogs have predicted steep asking prices for even the most basic of Blackwell mobile options.

"Second wave" ASUS price hikes were documented online over the past weekend; affecting air-cooled premium ROG Astral and mid-tier TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 models. Looking at the company's North American webshop, visitors noticed a freshly adjusted price for the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB OC Edition—going from a previous level of $3079.99 up to $3359.99. Curiously, the asking price of a liquid-cooled sibling was not adjusted—remaining at a "first wave" point of $3409.99. The "cheapest" model—TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 (non-OC)—experienced a $460 (representing 20%) price hike, bringing total cost of ownership up to $2759.99. As a reminder, NVIDIA's baseline MSRP guideline was $1999—as announced at CES 2025—but ROG Astral and TUF Gaming designs demand a premium or two for fancier feature sets. VideoCardz has fervently explored worrying market trends in the recent past; several of NVIDIA's big board partner players have jacked up asking prices for GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. Availability of stock is still a major sore point for potential buyers, who were not able to secure launch day wares. Despite a driving up of costs, the ASUS US webstore has absolutely zero stock of GeForce RTX 5090 SKUs—at the time of writing.

In addition, VideoCardz and other PC hardware media outlets noted price hikes affecting the manufacturer's stable of recently launched AMD Radeon RX 9070 Series TUF Gaming and PRIME models. In the absence of AMD-built (MBA) reference card designs, board partners were tasked with the providing of baseline "MSRP" conformant custom cards. The ASUS PRIME Radeon RX 9070 XT OC and RX 9070 OC Editions were readied as $599 and $549 options (respectively). Weekend sleuthing work put the spotlight on newly adjusted price points of $719.99 and $659.99 (respectively)—representing further cases of plain 20% elevations over baseline. AMD's debut batch of RDNA 4 cards was met with unprecedented demand earlier on in March, but secondary/tertiary stock shipments face unclear market conditions—Team Red GPU enthusiasts have (similarly) voiced their collective displeasure about elevated prices at retail. Mid-way through last week, the PC hardware community heard about ASUS leadership considering a new pricing strategy. The company is reportedly accelerating its manufacturing exodus from China.

MSI has officially confirmed that it will not manufacture graphics cards based on AMD's latest RDNA 4 architecture, effectively bypassing the entire Radeon RX 9000 series lineup. In a statement to Tom's Hardware, an MSI representative briefly noted the company "is not manufacturing AMD GPUs this generation," pausing its AMD partnership while leaving the door open for future collaborations. Data compiled by Tom's Hardware shows MSI produced 45 distinct models during the RDNA 2 generation (RX 6000-series), but dramatically scaled back to just four custom designs for RDNA 3 (RX 7000-series)—representing a 91% reduction in AMD SKU diversity. Those limited RDNA 3 offerings, including the flagship RX 7900 XTX, notably reused cooling solutions from previous-generation AMD cards, indicating reduced R&D allocation compared to the company's NVIDIA lineup.

MSI's withdrawal from offering AMD-based solutions is due to several factors. NVIDIA's dominance in market share (83%, according to Steam hardware surveys) provides partners with stronger return-on-investment potential, while EVGA's 2022 exit from the GPU market created an opportunity for MSI to strengthen its position as a premier NVIDIA partner. There were reportedly delays in finalizing the MSRP for the RX 9000 series, which complicated manufacturers' calculations, production planning, and shipments. The vacuum left by MSI creates potential opportunities for other emerging players like Acer, which has been slowly expanding its AMD graphics card presence. However, MSI's decision—likely finalized during earlier strategic planning cycles—could potentially push away AMD enthusiasts despite strong projected demand for the Radeon RX 9070 series. Whether this represents a permanent strategic realignment or a temporary market response, we are yet to find out. AMD plans to return to the high-end GPU segment with its UDNA generation, so we have to wait and see if MSI makes a comeback here. For AIBs, partnerships with GPU makers are essential to get R&D resources behind a new product. Once partnerships pause, it is hard to get that wheel going again.