Horrible RTX 5090 price gouging: Gaming PC maker feels "gross" as distributor quotes $3,000+ for one GPU
Much has been said about the dismal launch of the RTX 50 series. Ironically, the best RTX 50 GPU with, comparatively, the most impressive performance gain in the RTX 50 lineup also appears to have the worst availability. Yes, we are talking about the RTX 5090 which, even 1.5 months after launch, is virtually impossible to find at a reasonable price.
In fact, the RTX 5090 price gouging is so bad that even system integrators aren’t safe.
RTX 5090 scalping results in insane price markups
According to a new video posted on X by PowerGPU's CEO/founder, the company has found it hard to source RTX 5090s from distributors since the initial launch. However, what’s more concerning is that even a system integrator like PowerGPU can’t get RTX 5090s at a reasonable price. The company’s CEO claims that distribution is quoting an insane $3,050 to $3,100 for entry-level RTX 5090 AIB cards. He expresses that the PowerGPU team feels “gross” and “disgusted” by the whole situation.
To see the impact of the RTX 5090 on the pricing of the PowerGPU per-built desktop PCs, PowerGPU has a handy custom PC builder tool. You can use the tool to see the impact of the RTX 5090 pricing vs other GPU options.
PowerGPU's founder also alleges that there is markedly more stock of the RDNA 4 RX 9000 GPUs than the RTX 50. We reported on this previously where PowerGPU showed an eye-opening comparison between the supply of the RX 9070 XT and RTX 5090.
The situation faced by PowerGPU should put the scope of scalping and price gouging into perspective. If companies with contracts and links with distributors can’t score RTX 5090s without insane markups, what chance is there for regular consumers? We can only hope that Nvidia makes swift changes to improve the situation.
Source(s)
PowerGPU on X, Teaser image: Notebookcheck, Jp Valery on Unsplash, edited
