Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition will as always with any GPU launch be accompanied by the release of a bunch of versions from third-party graphics card makers, and pricing is now leaking on the latter models, so theoretically we know just how much more we’ll pay for these come September 24.
Naturally, it’s up to the GPU manufacturer to set the price points for the range of its RTX 3090 products, depending on how much any given card is beefed up and overclocked compared to Nvidia’s Founders Edition.
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There is at least some good news in that going by Newegg in the US, using price filters to reveal the asking prices as highlighted on Reddit (via Tom’s Hardware) – and assuming these pre-release price tags are on the money – there’s one card which doesn’t cost any more than the Founders Edition.
That’s the Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 which is pitched at the same price of $1,499.99. EVGA’s XC3 cards won’t be much more either at $1,529.99 (Black version) and $1,549.99.
Pricing goes from there up to a rather steep $1,800, with EVGA’s RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra Gaming and the Asus ROG Strix RTX 3090 OC Edition tipping the scales as the costliest graphics cards (so far, anyway).
What we have to remember here, as well, is that Nvidia’s own RTX 3090 Founders Edition features an innovative new design and cooling system (as seen in our RTX 3080 review, where temperatures were kept impressively cool compared to the current-gen Turing flagship).
Same story in the UK
That holds true with Overclockers in the UK, as well, with the Asus ROG Strix RTX 3090 OC Edition listed as the most expensive model at £1,649.99, tied with Gigabyte’s Aorus RTX 3090 Xtreme (as someone on the above Reddit thread pointed out, the prices aren’t listed in a search on OCUK, but if you click through to the actual GPU, pricing is present).
Again, the cheapest UK card is pitched at an identical price to the Founders Edition, which is EVGA’s entry-level RTX 3090 at £1,399. So with the most expensive cards being £250 more, it’s a pretty similar spread to the US.
Of course, while the weightier price tags here may seem a little off-putting, they may end up looking competitive – relatively speaking – given that the RTX 3090 has previously been rumored to sell out as quickly as the RTX 3080, and in the latter case, stock vanished literally in minutes.
Much of those graphics cards have ended up for sale on eBay at hugely inflated prices, and the danger is a repeat performance with the RTX 3090, meaning you could be looking at paying well north of two grand for a GPU – if you’re willing to buy from a scalper, that is.
Meanwhile Nvidia has promised it’s taking countermeasures to thwart bots and profiteers, including manually reviewing the orders taken for RTX 3080 graphics cards, so presumably there will be some action on this front when the RTX 3090 goes on sale, too. Here’s hoping that the genuine buyers get a chance this time round…
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