It turns out that MSI has quietly increased the retail price of its RTX 50-series (Blackwell) GPUs, including models that were supposed to launch at MSRP (via Hardware & Co). This impacts all three Blackwell GPUs released thus far: the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 Ti, though you'd be lucky to find any of the three in ready supply. Making matters worse, MSI's lowest-priced RTX 5070 Ti is listed with a price tag of $820, with no model available at MSRP.
By definition, MSRP is a manufacturer's suggested retail price, so Nvidia really has no way to enforce a consistent $749 price tag across all SKUs. AIBs, however, typically launch several MSRP and non-MSRP models, with the latter featuring premium features, enhanced cooling, and exotic designs. The problem is that the GPUs reviewed as MSRP models are no longer available at that price. The absence of a Founders Edition model from Nvidia further exacerbates this issue.
