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PC gamers would rather pay more for an RTX 5090 than get the 5080, our poll reveals

Will gamers skip the 50 series for now?
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PC gamers would rather pay more for an RTX 5090 than get the 5080, our poll reveals
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NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series is finally here, and the first two SKUs to hit the shelves are the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 – retailing from $1,999 and $999 respectively. However, it seems like things aren't looking great for the green team. First off, the launch of these two cards was quite disappointing, with Microcenter claiming that they only had about 200 units of the RTX 5090 available for the entire US market. And if that wasn't enough, the RTX 5080, which many expected to be the more accessible option due to its $1,000 price tag compared to the premium RTX 5090, doesn’t seem to offer the same amount of appeal.

We’ve conducted a poll asking users which card from the RTX 50 series they'd be purchasing. The two cards that received the most votes were the RTX 5090 with 1,311 votes and the RTX 5070 Ti with 1,248 votes. In comparison, the RTX 5080 garnered 1,123 votes, while the RTX 5070 had just 588 votes at the time of writing. You can keep up with the live results (or vote yourself) just below:

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RTX 50 series launch

Which RTX 50 series graphics card do you plan to buy?

A $1,000 price tag for the RTX 5080 doesn't seem justified for some

Since the review embargo for the RTX 5080 was lifted, many reviewers have been critical of the card. Aside from the added DDR7 bandwidth, the RTX 5080 doesn't offer much to convince gamers to make the jump, at least from the 40 series. Paul’s Hardware shared a graphic breaking down the general performance comparison of NVIDIA GPUs, which showed that the RTX 5080 is almost 17% less powerful than the RTX 4090 in raw performance. Essentially, the RTX 5080 has specifications that would place it closer to the 70-class GPU range, yet they are charging a price more in line with a GPU that sits between the 70 and 80 series.

NVIDIA could have avoided this situation by offering a GPU with performance similar to the RTX 4090 but at a price point closer to the RTX 4080. This would have made the RTX 5080 a far more compelling option. Even if NVIDIA kept the same configurations, a lower price would have improved its appeal. Instead of pricing it at $1,000, Hardware Unboxing believes that NVIDIA should have priced it 35% lower than the RTX 5090, bringing it down to around $700.

Source: Paul’s Hardware

Will the majority of users upgrade to the RTX 50 series?

The main issue stopping gamers from upgrading to the RTX 50 series is the mismatch between price and performance. The RTX 5090 offers significant improvement over the previous generation's flagship, but its premium price limits its appeal to enthusiasts. This leaves those looking for the best value with limited options. The RTX 5080, as we’ve seen, has its faults, and even the RTX 5070, while priced more affordably, lacks appeal, especially with its 12GB VRAM in a 2025 card. On the other hand, AMD is preparing to release their RX 9070 series GPUs, which include the RTX 9070 and RTX 9070 XT, both with 12GB of VRAM. If AMD manages to price these cards $100 lower than the RTX 5070, they could easily win over mid-range buyers.


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RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 stock shortage

Which GPU do you plan to buy when it comes back in stock?

About the Author

Hassam boasts over seven years of professional experience as a dedicated PC hardware reviewer and writer.