Retailers selling base model RX 9070 GPUs at 22% markup compared to MSRP — 9070 XT now typically starts at $799

Asus
(Image credit: Asus)

Last week AMD promised that its Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards with default clocks and regular cooling systems should be available at recommended prices of $549 and $599. However, retailers in the U.S., U.K., and presumably elsewhere are now selling entry-level Radeon RX 9070-series models that are supposed to be selling at MSRPs at prices that are $50 to $130, according to The Verge. Our own research suggests things might be even more dire.

According to The Verge, major retailers in the U.S. and the U.K. including Micro Center, Newegg, and Overclockers U.K. have adjusted prices upward, with no models sold at MSRP currently in stock. As a result, AMD's Radeon 9070 XT experienced price increases of 11.7% to 21.7% in the U.S. ($70–$130) and 14% to 17.4% in the U.K. (£80–£100), while the vanilla Radeon 9070 saw increases of 14.5% to 21.8% in the U.S. ($70–$80) and 7.5% in the UK (£40). These boards are among the best graphics cards money can buy, but they are considerably more expensive than they should be.

The graphics cards in question come from ASRock, Gigabyte, PowerColor, Sapphire, and XFX. With the exception of Gigabyte, those companies are AMD's exclusive partners, do not sell any Nvidia-based add-in-boards (AIBs), and are expected to adhere to MSRP with their entry-level products. We are indeed talking about entry-level products that belong to PowerColor's Reaper, Sapphire's Pulse, and XFX's Swift series — all known for affordability rather than extra features and lighting.

Interestingly, Best Buy still lists XFX Swift and Gigabyte Gaming models at MSRP — Radeon RX 9070 XT at $599 and RX 9070 at $549 — but all four variants are currently sold out with no indication that they're likely to come back in stock. Micro Center also lists a few models at their original prices, but none are available.

Last week AMD said that multiple vendors would sell cards at launch prices, but it did not specify how many cards would be sold or how long they would last before prices might go up. The company also did not confirm which board partners or retailers would adhere to the MSRP if demand is high and supply is tight. 

The Verge notes that at least some U.S.-based retailers, including Best Buy, Newegg, and Micro Center, continue to list some of Nvidia's latest GeForce RTX 5070, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5080 graphics cards at MSRP (though they're also out of stock). It's unclear whether it is a matter of supply and demand balance for these products (at the end of the day, they are pretty expensive), or Nvidia and its partners have a policy to have at least some products sold at recommended prices.

Currently, looking at most major U.S. online stores, the best prices we can find are typically far above the base MSRPs. Best Buy has RTX 5070 cards priced at $649–$739 in stock, with one model laughably showing a "Save $30" notification. Everything else is out of stock. Asus currently shows an RX 9070 Prime for $659 in stock, if you're willing to pay that much and you act fast; it also show RTX 5070 Prime for $549, which likely won't last two seconds past the time we post this. Literally everything is out of stock at Newegg right now. Amazon has some items in stock, but many show up under "new sellers" — it's a risk to buy from such people, obviously. Outside of a few select places, then, even a 22% markup right now is probably better than you're likely to find online in the U.S.

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Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

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  • beyondlogic
    in uk average is around 841 usd at lowest. 650 pounds.

    price creeping up on 9070 was around 540 pounds now 570
    Reply
  • Neilbob
    I'm so glad the (few) games I play nowadays don't require high FPS, and I'm not all that fussy about frames anyway. And it's a good job too, because it looks like my now antique 1660 Super will be tiding me over for a while longer.

    Even so, I'd like to give the people running these companies a good old donk in the face.
    Reply
  • Elusive Ruse
    9070 XT Swift, Quick Silver and Hellhound are the cheapest here in Poland at ~€900. The 5090 is on offer for €3800 🤣
    Reply
  • Jabberwocky79
    Here's a question. How do these scalper bots work anyway? I'm not asking so much about the programming, but I'm wondering... when someone puts a bot in place, does it just keep going forever? Like, if something is listed as back in stock, is it going to keep notifying the bot owner until they (presumably a scalper) just don't care anymore?

    I've been signing up for restock notifications, and have yet to receive a single notification from anywhere. So, I'm wondering if there literally has not been a single restock yet, or are the bots faster than the retailers notifications?
    Reply
  • Gururu
    Jabberwocky79 said:
    Here's a question. How do these scalper bots work anyway? I'm not asking so much about the programming, but I'm wondering... when someone puts a bot in place, does it just keep going forever? Like, if something is listed as back in stock, is it going to keep notifying the bot owner until they (presumably a scalper) just don't care anymore?

    I've been signing up for restock notifications, and have yet to receive a single notification from anywhere. So, I'm wondering if there literally has not been a single restock yet, or are the bots faster than the retailers notifications?
    I believe the bots are coded to survey URLs for status updates so literally the second they show in stock the bot user knows and can purchase. I don't know if the purchases can be automated, might depend on the seller. It will go on as long as the bot is active.
    Reply
  • beyondlogic
    Neilbob said:
    I'm so glad the (few) games I play nowadays don't require high FPS, and I'm not all that fussy about frames anyway. And it's a good job too, because it looks like my now antique 1660 Super will be tiding me over for a while longer.

    Even so, I'd like to give the people running these companies a good old donk in the face.

    even the 1060 is still a good card if you dont push all the bells and whistles up you can get a playable framrate at 1080p easy.
    Reply
  • Shiznizzle
    Dont buy them. Let them choke on their greed. When they see the crap is not selling they will adjust the price to match its performance and not a price based on "what people are willing to pay".
    Reply
  • beyondlogic
    Jabberwocky79 said:
    Here's a question. How do these scalper bots work anyway? I'm not asking so much about the programming, but I'm wondering... when someone puts a bot in place, does it just keep going forever? Like, if something is listed as back in stock, is it going to keep notifying the bot owner until they (presumably a scalper) just don't care anymore?

    I've been signing up for restock notifications, and have yet to receive a single notification from anywhere. So, I'm wondering if there literally has not been a single restock yet, or are the bots faster than the retailers notifications?

    most bots i believe run on a script that constantly keeps tabs on stock pages. i assume when a page is updated it subtle changes. which causes the bot to buy. on the fly.
    it wouldnt suprise me if the bots are auto buying. but i assume there told how many to buy. based on the accounts amount of currency.
    Reply
  • Shiznizzle
    Elusive Ruse said:
    9070 XT Swift, Quick Silver and Hellhound are the cheapest here in Poland at ~€900. The 5090 is on offer for €3800 🤣
    3800 euro's for a GPU.

    That is the price of a second hand vehicle for crying out loud. The greed is unreal
    Reply
  • Notton
    beyondlogic said:
    even the 1060 is still a good card if you dont push all the bells and whistles up you can get a playable framrate at 1080p easy.
    I have a 1070Ti and 4070Ti, but the difference in image quality is night and day in Monster Hunter Wilds.
    Reply