Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards, launched recently with very low stock levels, have been largely unavailable due to scalping. However, one key partner, MSI, initially offered some models at the suggested retail price (MSRP). Unfortunately, these MSRP-labelled models are now nowhere to be seen on MSI’s US online store.
The cheapest RTX 5070 Ti is $820, which is only 8% above its MSRP of $759. This represents a significant price increase for other models in the series, with the lowest price for each being $1,140 and $2,400 – 14% and 20% more expensive than their MSRPs.
The situation is not unique to MSI, as no RTX 50-series graphics cards from any partner were ever available on online stores during the launch. The prices of these GPUs are determined by supply and demand, but it’s disappointing that AIB partners seem to promise a certain price before pulling it away.
As the market for graphics cards continues to be unpredictable, it remains to be seen how well more affordable models from Nvidia and AMD will fare in terms of availability. For now, consumers can only rely on the MSRP as an “inspirational” carrot, rather than an actual selling point.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/msi-pulls-its-msrp-rtx-50-series-cards-from-its-online-store-not-that-we-ever-saw-any-of-them-in-stock