NVIDIA RTX 5090 & 5080 Prices in Europe: High "Premium Tax" at Launch

NVIDIA's highly anticipated GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 graphics cards have begun appearing at retailers across Europe. However, initial listing prices, particularly at one Spanish retailer, are significantly elevated, with the RTX 5090 reaching up to €2,889, including a hefty 21% VAT.

RTX 5090 Prices: Premium Tax for Early Adopters

While prices can vary due to different VAT rates across EU nations, the initial listings indicate a substantial "premium tax" for consumers. At a Spanish retailer, the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 AMP Gaming Extreme is listed at €2,889 (including VAT), which translates to around $2,972. Other RTX 5090 models are also listed at high prices, which include a 21% VAT:

Removing the 21% VAT, the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 AMP Gaming Extreme is approximately €2387.60, or around $2,455. Considering the model's MSRP is $1,999, consumers are looking at a significant mark-up on launch date.

RTX 5080 Prices Also Elevated

The GeForce RTX 5080 is also experiencing elevated prices. The Gigabyte AORUS Xtreme Waterforce is listed at €2,269 including VAT, while the ASUS Prime GeForce RTX 5080 and PNY GeForce RTX 5080 Epic-X are listed at around €1,836 and €1,529, respectively. These prices indicate that customers are likely to pay an extra $200-$400 upfront to acquire these GPUs at launch.

Launch Prices and Availability

The listings at this Spanish retailer highlight a common trend: retailers often inflate prices at launch to capitalize on consumer demand. This practice is not exclusive to Europe, with US retailers also known to sell above MSRP. Given the expected limited availability at launch, prices are likely to increase further, raising concerns about whether the high-end RTX 50 series GPUs will be worth the cost and effort to obtain.