NVIDIA has reportedly ended its Open Price Program just days ago, a behind-the-scenes initiative that helped manufacturers like Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI sell graphics cards at the company’s suggested retail prices.
According to Germany-based hardware expert Roman “der8auer” Hartung and German outlet HardwareLuxx, the program’s cancellation means one thing for gamers: prepare your wallets for a beating.
Der8auer, who runs performance cooling company Thermal Grizzly and has solid connections in the GPU industry, dropped the news in his latest video citing two unnamed industry sources.
The OPP essentially worked as a cashback or discount system where NVIDIA incentivized its board partners to offer at least some cards at MSRP, even if those were always a tiny fraction of what actually hit shelves. Without that financial cushion, manufacturers have zero reason to eat the costs and keep prices down.
The perfect storm hits gamers hard
The timing couldn’t be worse. Memory prices are absolutely insane right now, with GDDR7 supplies tight and costs climbing as NVIDIA prioritizes AI data center chips over consumer gaming cards.
The company bundles GPU dies with memory for its partners, but with VRAM getting pricier by the day and AI demand consuming everything in sight, that bundle just got way more expensive without the OPP to offset it.
Der8auer estimates the RTX 5080 could see price increases between 40 to 50 percent, and that’s before scalpers get their hands on remaining stock.
The RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5090, which have been getting better reviews, are becoming nearly impossible to find as NVIDIA allegedly shifts production focus to the more profitable RTX 5080. Some reports suggest NVIDIA might even discontinue certain 16GB models like the RTX 5060 Ti and 5070 Ti entirely, though the company hasn’t confirmed anything.
What this means for your next build
Real-world pricing data already shows the damage. The RTX 5070 is selling around $700, a 27 percent jump over its $550 MSRP.
The RTX 5090 is hitting a staggering $4,222 on secondary markets compared to its $2,000 official price. AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 isn’t escaping either, averaging $817 against a $550 MSRP.
The harsh reality is NVIDIA makes billions from AI chips for companies like OpenAI and Meta, so consumer gaming cards are no longer the priority. When AI profits dwarf gaming revenue by over 20 times, it’s pretty clear where the silicon is going.
Gamers are once again taking the hit for corporate priorities, and with the OPP gone, there’s nothing stopping prices from climbing even higher. The days of hunting for MSRP cards are officially over.
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