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
Welcome to hell.
Gaming aficionado and current owner of the last-gen Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super advises that there's no need for the most recent graphics card. The RTX 5090, in particular, comes with a steep price tag, often more than its suggested retail price. The cheapest deal available online is $4,500 or £3,499. Nvidia has acknowledged the surging prices, as seen with their 'Verified Priority Access IRL' at QuakeCon, allowing attendees to buy the GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, or RTX 5070 Founders Edition at the list price while supplies last.
Flying to Dallas would cost around $1,428, plus the $1,999 price of the RTX 5090, $16.50 for admission, and the stress of jet lag, totaling a little over $3,443 or £2,556. However, there's a chance the booth might sell out of RTX 5090s. Even if it does, attendees can still grab some "cool freebies," like a pack of GeForce Trading Cards showcasing 14 gaming moments.
Nvidia will also give away an RTX 5070 Founders Edition to the winner of QuakeCon Mod Contest and DOOM: The Dark Ages — Revelations challenges. Another option to avoid paying the MSRP is to participate in these contests or improve gaming skills. Alternatively, living near QuakeCon could be a solution. However, the author, based in the UK, decided against their advice and will not be applying it.
Written by urgent.news from PC Gamer's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.