Nvidia sells RTX 50-series GPUs at MSRP during QuakeCon 2026 — graphics cards sold at launch prices more than a year after release are now considered an attraction
This shows how dystopian the PC building industry has become.
Nvidia has a booth at the annual QuakeCon, which is happening from August 6 to 9 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, where the company is selling RTX 50-series GPUs at their original launch price. The company said in its blog post that several Founders Edition graphics cards are available at MSRP while supplies last, and that there will also be several prizes and freebies, including the GeForce Trading Cards Series 1.
“If you’re attending this year’s event between August 6th and 9th, head to the GeForce booth ASAP to get in on the action,” Nvidia said in its blog update. “And if you want a GPU upgrade, our team is bringing Verified Priority Access IRL to QuakeCon, enabling you to purchase Founders Edition GeForce RTX 5090, 5080, and 5070s at MSRP while supplies last.”
The firm officially announced the RTX 50-series in Las Vegas at CES 2025, with the RTX 5090 priced at $1,999, the RTX 5080 at $999, the RTX 5070 Ti at $749, and the RTX 5070 at $549. However, the supplies of these GPUs were limited — the 5090s and 5080s went out of stock on the same day that they arrived on store shelves. It took several months for the RTX 50-series to finally dip below MSRP, but this only lasted a few months as the memory shortage took hold and caused VRAM prices to skyrocket.
This means that the best graphics cards for gaming are quite expensive at the moment, with Tom’s Hardware’s GPU price tracker showing the best price for the RTX 5090 sitting at $4,381 — more than double the $1,999 MSRP that Nvidia set for the GPU. Even the RTX 5080, 5070 Ti, and 5070 aren’t immune to these price increases, with the most affordable options for the graphics cards sitting at $1,289 (29% over MSRP), $989 (32% over MSRP), and $629 (more than 14% over MSRP), respectively.
Unfortunately, this isn’t likely the worst that we will see when it comes to GPU pricing. There has been some disturbing news that prices for RTX 50-series GPUs jumped by 30% in South Korea as wafer costs from TSMC have increased, and GDDR7 modules push past $20. While this hasn’t reached the U.S. at the moment, there is fear that retailers in the country will follow suit soon.
Such is the state of the PC building industry that RTX 50-series GPUs at MSRP have now become a come-on to desperate gamers who just want to upgrade their gaming PCs for a reasonable price. Unfortunately, “Verified Priority Access IRL” is only available during the convention and only until supplies last — once there’s no more stock on site, you’d have no choice but to troll the interwebs for a deal or a secondhand unit if you refuse to pay for more than the MSRP. Alternatively, if you believe that you’ve got the skills, Nvidia is also hosting Quake III Arena RTX Remix and DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations challenges, where the best players will each receive an RTX 5070 Founders Edition GPU.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
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PEnns Nevermind the useless story about "...at MSRP while supplies last".Reply
The thing that stood out: "..at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas,"
Are you saying Texas approved the building of a resort called "Gaylord"....???, is that a typo or a major oversight by the authorities / morality police?? 😊 -
Jabberwocky79 Reply
Where I'm from there was a well-to-do family named Gaylord that now have their name all over things in the city.PEnns said:Nevermind the useless story about "...at MSRP while supplies last".
The thing that stood out: "..at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas,"
Are you saying Texas approved the building of a resort called "Gaylord"....???, is that a typo or a major oversight by the authorities / morality police?? 😊 -
COLGeek All 8 year old kid level jokes aside, please drop the Gaylord discussion before this goes too far. Thanks.Reply -
RealRacinGuy As someone who has an Nvidia 4070ti we the people are to blame for these absurd prices....I however bought mine the week it was released. I am however currently about to make a switch to AMD. They aren't currently worth what the pricing is. This is just like when car retailers were jacking up prices during COVID for New cars thus requiring multiple car manufacturers to step in and say if you wanna sell a Toyota Highlander for 100k then it will be the last Toyota Highlander you ever sell! Nvidia is boasting about record setting profits etc etc and yet they can't step in and do the same thing? The Love of Money is the Root of all evil and we are seeing this play out more and more everyday from the Grocery Store to the Gas Pumps to PC Parts.Reply
We also have the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, TN as well as Multiple other Buildings with the Surname "GAYLORD"......So this must be a Family or Business that owns various businesses in multiple states ..... -
magbarn Been to that place and it's pretty dang nice. Anyways, 99% of these cards are going to be resold, especially the 5080/90's....Reply -
vinay2070 I dont know why read these articles and make my blood boil. I am not even gaming anymore despite the fact I have a capable 3080Ti.Reply -
usertests Reply
So you have no reason to boil over.vinay2070 said:I am not even gaming anymore despite the fact I have a capable 3080Ti. -
Syntaximus The irony is these delusional pricks think selling a few cards at MSRP is good PR.Reply
In reality, it's a slap in the face to consumers who have never been able to do so. -
usertests Reply
They should have sold GPU trading cards or leather jackets.Syntaximus said:The irony is these delusional pricks think selling a few cards at MSRP is good PR.
In reality, it's a slap in the face to consumers who have never been able to do so.