The GPU battle for this generation is in full swing. Usually, MSI would be right in the middle of it as a major board partner for both Nvidia and AMD. However, it looks like MSI has picked the team they want to support – and it is green.

One of the major concerns for customers for Nvidia’s newly launched line of graphics cards has been price. Constrained supply has pushed up prices far beyond the MSRP. This has largely been driven by scalpers grabbing up available stock and reselling it at an inflated price. Unfortunately, it seems that MSI also wants some of that extra cash and has jacked up the prices of its graphics cards accordingly.

MSI ups price of RTX 5070 Ti and other cards

The RTX 5070 Ti was announced by Nvidia with an MSRP of $749 but with no Founders Edition. The official MSI US online store does not currently have any RTX 5070 TI cards available at that price. Even the most basic model available, the Shadow 3X is listed at $819, $70 more than the MSRP. The higher specced models reach up towards $1000.

The RTX 5070 Ti Vanguard, for instance, is priced at an eye-watering $999.99. Nor is it the only RTX 50 card affected, with RTX 5080 MSI cards starting at $1139.99 and going up to $1499.99.

MSI puts all its eggs in one basket

Back in 2024, MSI said it was planning to focus on Nvidia’s RTX cards. This statement seems to be more accurate than expected, since there is no indication that MSI is producing an RX 9070 series graphics card. AMD has dropped the brand from its list of partners for the upcoming launch, which takes place on March 6th.

This might go towards explaining the price hike for the RTX 50 series. If MSI has been dropped as an AMD board partner, they have potentially lost access to a revenue stream, causing the company to rely heavily on Nvidia cards to secure profits.

About the Author

Rebecca Hills-Duty

Writing and journalism experience at VRFocus, UploadVR, The Escapist, HTC, PC Gamer, Tech Radar+ and Dexerto. Can sometimes be found playing with retro tech.