This content originally appeared on HackerNoon and was authored by Technology News Australia
Alright, let’s talk about the absolute insanity that is NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series pricing, because at this point, they’re not even pretending to care about gamers anymore. It’s all about AI, and we’re just here getting price-gouged while they focus on enterprise customers.
The Prices Are a Complete Joke
Let’s just take a moment to appreciate how absurdly overpriced these GPUs are:
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RTX 5090 – $4,039 AUD
RTX 5080 – $2,019 AUD
RTX 5070 Ti – $1,509 AUD
RTX 5070 – $1,109 AUD
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FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS for a single GPU? That’s not a gaming card. That’s a high-end workstation meant for AI and data centers, yet NVIDIA is still pretending it’s a consumer product. Even the so-called “mid-range” cards, which used to be affordable back in the day, now cost as much as an entire high-end gaming PC from a few years ago.
NVIDIA Doesn’t Care About Gamers Anymore
Once upon a time, NVIDIA was all about gaming—now? They’re fully invested in AI, machine learning, and data centers. Their investor calls barely mention gaming anymore because it’s just a side hustle at this point.
\ If you think these insane price hikes are about next-level gaming performance, think again. This is NVIDIA shifting its business model, focusing on AI while still milking gamers for everything they can. They know businesses will pay insane amounts for AI compute, so they’re pricing their GPUs accordingly.
\ And the worst part? Gamers aren’t even the target audience anymore. NVIDIA doesn’t care if you can afford it or not—because their focus is now AI companies, research institutions, and cloud providers.
Great Frames? You Need DLSS 4.0—Because Native Performance Isn't Enough
Here’s the kicker: even if you drop thousands on one of these GPUs, you’re still not getting great frame rates natively. NVIDIA has stopped focusing on raw power and instead forces you to rely on their AI-powered DLSS 4.0 upscaling just to get high frame rates.
\ Let that sink in. You’re spending thousands of dollars, and you still have to use AI tricks to get good performance. Native rasterization performance? Not as impressive as you’d expect. Instead, NVIDIA pushes their fake frames technology (Frame Generation) to inflate FPS numbers.
\ So, if you thought you could just buy a 5090 and brute-force your way to native 4K 120 FPS—think again. You’re forced to use DLSS, which means:
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You're not getting "true" frames. A huge chunk of your FPS is generated by AI, meaning it’s not actual rendered frames.
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DLSS can introduce artifacts. Sure, it looks fine most of the time, but in fast-paced games, ghosting and motion blur can still be noticeable.
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Not every game supports it. If a game doesn’t have DLSS, you’re stuck with the card’s raw performance, which might not be as impressive as you’d expect for the price.
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So why are we paying thousands for a GPU that doesn’t deliver native high FPS without software trickery?
NVIDIA is Creating the Problem They Profit From
And let’s not forget artificial scarcity. NVIDIA could easily make more GPUs, but instead, they limit supply so that prices stay inflated. Then, they release AI-focused GPUs, knowing full well that those will sell out first, driving gamers to pay more than they should just to get their hands on something decent.
Final Thoughts: Gamers Are Being Milked
PC gaming was supposed to be a place where you could build a powerful system for a fair price. Now, thanks to NVIDIA’s greed, it’s a luxury hobby. They’re prioritizing AI, enterprise, and cloud computing, leaving gamers behind while still charging them insane prices.
\ If you’re thinking about upgrading, consider AMD or Intel, because at this point, NVIDIA doesn’t deserve your money anymore.
This content originally appeared on HackerNoon and was authored by Technology News Australia
Technology News Australia | Sciencx (2025-02-24T07:57:43+00:00) NVIDIA is Creating a Problem It Can Profit From. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/02/24/nvidia-is-creating-a-problem-it-can-profit-from/
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