Nvidia’s RTX 4090 graphics card is finally starting to drop in price after high demand and price-gouging at launch, but the biggest price drops are actually in Europe. While it’s possible to buy the PNY XLR8 model below list price in America, most models are still selling above the $1,599 launch price. In most European countries, the original retail price was €1,949, and it’s dropped steadily each month since February this year. This proves that Nvidia made the launch price of the RTX 4090 too high.
The repeated European price cuts on the Founders Edition model could signal that Nvidia is struggling to shift RTX 4090 stock now that the initial rush of orders has slowed. Nvidia already allegedly had to throttle 4090 restocks to sell its RTX 4080, and with the arrival of the more affordable RTX 4070, it becomes even harder to justify buying the flagship graphics card.
While the RTX 4090 is one of the best graphics cards ever made, many people baulked at the asking price. The RTX 4070 can play the vast majority of games at 4K with high frame rates thanks to Nvidia’s DLSS 3 upscaling tech, making it a better choice for most people. However, if you’re a professional 3D animator or require a serious GPU grunt for running scientific modeling software, the RTX 4090 might be worth it.
The drop in RTX 4090 prices could also mean that Nvidia is struggling to sell its GPUs to gamers, who might be better off with one of the best AMD graphics cards instead. With AI chatbot expansion threatening to cause another GPU shortage, Nvidia’s hardware is likely to be in hot demand in the coming years – but not from gamers.
