It is genuinely cheaper for me to fly to QuakeCon and buy a RTX 5090 at the Nvidia booth than pick up the GPU absolutely anywhere else
The RTX 5090, Nvidia’s latest flagship graphics card, has become prohibitively expensive in the current market, with online retailers charging around $4,500/£3,499—far above Nvidia’s recommended retail price. The situation has become so severe that purchasing the GPU directly from Nvidia’s booth at QuakeCon has become genuinely more cost-effective than buying from any other retailer, even accounting for travel expenses.
In response to the widespread GPU scalping and price gouging, Nvidia established “Verified Priority Access IRL” at its QuakeCon booth this year, allowing attendees to purchase the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and other graphics cards at more reasonable prices. This move highlights Nvidia’s acknowledgment of the runaway pricing problem affecting the 50-series GPU line.
The pricing crisis reflects broader market challenges as demand for high-end graphics cards continues to outpace supply. For budget-conscious gamers, the message is clear: previous-generation cards like the RTX 4070 Super remain capable alternatives that deliver excellent performance without the premium prices attached to the latest generation.