MSI quietly raises prices of its supposed RTX 5070 Ti MSRP models

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Just in time for the RDNA 4 launch.

MSI RTX 5070 Ti didn't have ROPs per specifications
(Image credit: MSI)

It turns out that MSI has quietly increased the retail price of its RTX 50-series (Blackwell) GPUs, including models that were supposed to launch at MSRP (via Hardware & Co). This impacts all three Blackwell GPUs released thus far: the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 Ti, though you'd be lucky to find any of the three in ready supply. Making matters worse, MSI's lowest-priced RTX 5070 Ti is listed with a price tag of $820, with no model available at MSRP.

By definition, MSRP is a manufacturer's suggested retail price, so Nvidia really has no way to enforce a consistent $749 price tag across all SKUs. AIBs, however, typically launch several MSRP and non-MSRP models, with the latter featuring premium features, enhanced cooling, and exotic designs. The problem is that the GPUs reviewed as MSRP models are no longer available at that price. The absence of a Founders Edition model from Nvidia further exacerbates this issue.

The MSI RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X launched two weeks prior at $749, compliant with Nvidia's set MSRP. With MSI's updated prices in effect, this SKU has climbed up to $899, 20% over MSRP, and that's the lowest price you'll see at resellers. It's fair to say that the MSRP is no more than a suggestion. The cheapest model will set you back $820.

RTX 5070 Ti MSI scalper

(Image credit: MSI)

Imagine going through all that hassle only to find your GPU has missing ROP units, cutting performance by up to 11% in some scenarios. You fire up an older title only to find that Blackwell no longer supports 32-bit PhysX. At the same time, you're constantly worried about whether your power connector is seated correctly since Nvidia cut back on failsafe measures for this generation.

AMD seems to be the answer with its $599 RX 9070 XT, which is within 2% of the elusive RTX 5070 Ti. Rumor has it that the RTX 5090 supply is expected to improve this month as Nvidia is reportedly shifting wafer supply from data centers to consumer-grade GPUs.

The budget $549 (fingers crossed) RTX 5070 is arriving the day after tomorrow, and we're eager to see how well supply holds up. Nvidia pushed this launch from February to March, likely to tackle the aforementioned production defects and improve inventory, but we'll believe it when we see it.

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Hassam Nasir
Hassam Nasir
Contributing Writer

Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.

31 Comments Comment from the forums
  • SomeoneElse23
    Stop paying insane amounts for video cards, and the market will change.
    Reply
  • txfeinbergs
    This is directly due to the tariffs that have been implemented recently. 10% last month, and another 10% tomorrow on all goods from China. We can all expect for there to be no such thing as MSRP anymore in the US.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    txfeinbergs said:
    This is directly due to the tariffs that have been implemented recently. 10% last month, and another 10% tomorrow on all goods from China. We can all expect for there to be no such thing as MSRP anymore in the US.
    no amount tariffs have 200-300 price hike over msrp.
    Reply
  • helper800
    SomeoneElse23 said:
    Stop paying insane amounts for video cards, and the market will change.
    Stop using video cards and the market will completely die.
    Reply
  • helper800
    hotaru251 said:
    no amount tariffs have 200-300 price hike over msrp.
    20% of a MSRP 2000 dollar 5090 is 400 dollars, not to mention that MSRP 5090s are rarer than unicorns and leprechauns. Even the 5080 at 1000 is 200 dollars at a 20% tariff... Math is not on your side friend.
    Reply
  • A Stoner
    The blackwell chips sell for ~$30,000 and have about 1600mm^2 of silicone. $18.75 per mm^2

    The RTX 5090 chips sell for ~$2,000 and have about 744mm^2 of silicone. $2.69 per mm^2

    nVidia has little incentive to make very many consumer grade chips to sell to AIB partners. This means that AIB partners are not going to be able to sell very many products. But they still have to do the research and development as well as tool up those designs, and that all costs money, that has to be recovered as they sell the end product.

    If they can sell 100,000 units, that cost can be divided by 100,000. Then it can become a trivial part of the cost and they can sell cards at MSRP.

    If on the other hand, they can only end up selling 5,000 cards, then the cost of the Research and Development and the Tooling is 20 times as high per end product sold. That cannot fit inside of the MSRP envelope any more.

    Consumers are getting hit, producers are getting hit. The only entity prospering off this currently is nVidia, and that is exactly what their job is. Make money. Your feelz are not much of a concern to them. $130 billion in sales while consumer products make up ~$15 billion means you are not important. And, it is not like they could not sell that silicone for $18.75 per mm^2 to someone not you.

    It sucks, I think AI is a scam with smaller return on investment than it costs to create and use, but currently it is the market, and we consumers are not.
    Reply
  • DS426
    helper800 said:
    Stop using video cards and the market will completely die.
    He didn't say stop using them, he said stop paying for overpriced videocards.

    Plenty of great GPU's can be had at sub-$700 prices.
    Reply
  • DS426
    Yeah... tariffs are the problem with nVidia's fake MSRP problem. One little problem: this isn't a new occurrence to the 50 series.
    Reply
  • helper800
    DS426 said:
    He didn't say stop using them, he said stop paying for overpriced videocards.

    Plenty of great GPU's can be had at sub-$700 prices.
    Stop buying them and they will stop getting made for consumers. Nvidia does not need the consumer market anymore and AMD may still be losing money in consumer graphics, who knows how long that will last until they axe it. Better hope the 9070 and 9070 XT do extremely well for AMD less we continue to get bent over by Nvidia at checkout if you even have the luck to find one of their cards from a retailer.
    Reply
  • tcg101
    Yet, when I look at MSI's site: https://us-store.msi.com/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-GPU/GeForce-RTX-50-Series?sort=p.price&order=ASC&limit=60, I still see 2 cards priced at MSRP for the 5070 Ti on 03/04.
    Reply