The fact that the RTX 4090 is not cheap should not surprise anyone.
There are only a few days left until the official launch of Nvidia’s RTX 4000 generation. In addition to the expected performance, two questions are particularly important so shortly before the start: How much do the graphics cards cost? And can I even buy them this time without any problems?
So that you don’t have to be robbed of your sleep, our assessment of both questions follows to the best of our knowledge and belief – whereby we explicitly refer to the price of the new flagship RTX 4090.
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Graphics card mining is no longer an issue after the Ethereum merge
The availability question can be answered succinctly: Yes, there are very likely enough tickets for everyone
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So yesterday one of the last pillars of the graphics card shortage finally fell: the mining boom. The cryptocurrency Ethereum, which is most relevant for graphics card mining, successfully completed the switch from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. This means that it is no longer relevant for GPU miners.
You can find more on the topic in our article from last week, in which we explain the details about the Ethereum merge:
After RTX 3000 launch disaster
The Ethereum merge gives hope
Many miners had announced that they wanted to take action against this change. From the outset, however, their chances were assessed as slim and their efforts were ultimately not crowned with success.
So there should be no internal or external problems that limit the availability of the RTX 4000.
Nvidia’s warehouses are already full of RTX 4000
In addition, Nvidia cannot and does not want to allow itself a launch debacle like the RTX 3000 series a second time. The graphics card manufacturer has already taken precautions and has large numbers of models of the new generation in stock.
So reported Tweaktown citing industry insiders that Nvidia has been stocking its warehouses in Taiwan since August with the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 – the models leaked out later this year.
Nvidia has therefore been ready for the launch of the new graphics cards since last month. Only the large numbers of high-end models from the RTX 3000 series that are still available have probably ensured that the presentation was postponed until next week.
But not only the internal preparation speaks for a good availability of the RTX 4000. The external factors have also changed significantly compared to the launch of the last generation in 2020.
But what does that mean for the starting prices of the new graphics cards? First of all, that the list prices mentioned are actually relevant and will not just be pure theory.
At the same time, however, it can already be estimated in which framework we will be moving when Nvidia presents its new start lineup consisting of the RTX 4090, RTX 4080 16 GB and RTX 4080 12 GB on Tuesday.
In a Twitter post, well-known leaker Greymon55 encourages discussion about the rough range in which we could move the RTX 4090’s MSRP: between $1,499, the launch price of the RTX 3090, and $1,999 , the original MSRP for the RTX 3090 Ti.
link to Twitter content
RTX 4090: We expect this starting price
In our opinion, the actual starting price of the RTX 4090 will be at the lower end of the range specified by Greymon. Poor company figures could cause prices to rise if Nvidia could please investors, as many experts expect with Intel’s new Raptor Lake processors. However, several reasons speak against a moon price around the 2,000 euro mark.
On the one hand there is AMD, who have already made it clear that they see themselves at least equal, if not ahead, in the battle for the GPU crown this year. Nvidia simply cannot afford to raise prices as the mood takes them.
Also, there will inevitably be a comparison between RTX 3090 and RTX 4090 starting prices. Even if the RTX 4090, as claimed in a leak, offers up to 80 percent more performance than the RTX 3090: a price jump of 500 dollars will rightly cause displeasure among buyers.
And then there is the world economy. Not only in Europey, but also in many other Western countries, inflation and rising consumer prices mean that many people’s belts are tighter. Honestly, Nvidia’s RTX 4090 is not aimed at those who have to watch every cent in their household budget. Nevertheless, this also speaks for a lower price increase.
So where do we price Nvidia’s RTX 4090? It is possible that Nvidia will carry over the price of the last generation and stick with an MSRP of $1,499. However, we don’t want to rule out a price increase of one hundred or even two hundred dollars due to Nvidia’s economic situation and the possibly strong jump in performance.
From Nvidia’s point of view, however, we think that the starting price of the RTX 4090 will rise above 1,699 US dollars and is therefore also quite unlikely.
Can’t wait for new graphics cards and want or need to get a new one right now? Then take a look at our big graphics card comparison.
Graphics cards 2022 in comparison: Over 60 GPUs in the large performance ranking
What do you think: How expensive will Nvidia’s RTX 4090 be? Are we right in our assessment or are we completely wrong? And do you think a certain price increase is justified or can the new flagship simply not afford a higher RRP? Write us your opinion in the comments!
