GoKawiilIn brief: In a perfect illustration of the current GPU marketplace, Nvidia is giving QuakeCon visitors the incredible opportunity to buy RTX 5000-series graphics cards – at MSRP! The company did the same thing at GTC last year, generously allowing its customers the chance to purcahse GPUs for the price they're supposed to pay.
QuakeCon celebrates its 20th anniversary between today (August 6) and August 9 at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas.
In addition to featuring the massive BYOC LAN party, retro-game tournaments, an id Software founders reunion panel, giveaways, contests, and swag, attendees can get hold of something nobody else can: an RTX 5000-series Founders Edition card at MSRP. Nvidia is calling this Verified Priority Access IRL.
The fact that we were complaining about the RTX 5080 costing $999 and the RTX 5090's $1,999 price a year and a half ago seems almost sad these days.
As shown in our Mid-2026 GPU Pricing Update feature, the RTX 5080 is now 18% above its true MSRP, with the average US price for July around $1,250.
The RTX 5090 situation is even worse. With its 32GB of RAM, the flagship GeForce card is now 94% above MSRP. The average US price last month was just under $4,000, making that original $2,000 MSRP seem like a bargain.
Nvidia says supplies of the MSRP-priced cards at QuakeCon are limited, so arrive early if you want an RTX 5070, 5080, or 5090 at a price untouched by the memory crisis.
For those who don't have a lot of spare cash, Nvidia is also giving away RTX 5070 Founders Edition cards through gaming challenges at QuakeCon. There are also RTX 5000-series cards being given away as part of a PC modding contest.
This isn't the first time that Nvidia has sold its latest cards at a convention at MSRP. It did the same thing at GTC last year, where it handed them out from a food truck. Given their price, they weren't being handed over like hot dogs: Buyers had to pick up their purchases from the South Hall main entrance on the same day they were bought.