NVIDIA's RTX 5080 is back in stock, but it's not all good news.
Despite finding a couple of Gigabyte RTX 5080s being sold straight from Newegg — no third-party seller that may or may not be legitimate — you'll need some extra dough to pick one of these up.
I've known for a while that the $999 MSRP that NVIDIA roughly set for its RTX 5080 Founders Edition GPUs does not apply to cards from third-party builders like Gigabyte, and the proof is in these prices stretching beyond $1,500.
Gigabyte's Gaming OC RTX 5080 comes in at $1,539.99 at Newegg, while the Gigabyte AORUS Master Ice RTX 5080 in a sleek white finish tops out at $1,629.99.
I suggest buying your RTX 5080 straight from an established retailer
There are several NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPUs for sale online at any given time, but most come from third-party sellers that may or may not be legit.
That's not to say that official retailers don't sometimes slip up and ship something erroneously, but you have far less of a chance of running into some sort of scam when buying straight from Newegg.
👉 Related: Where to buy NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080
With these Gigabyte GPUs, you're paying way above MSRP despite buying from a reputable seller, but that's not exactly Newegg's fault.
Third-party builders like Gigabyte are free to set prices as far beyond MSRP as they'd like, which is how we've arrived at these two RTX 5080s costing half again as much as you'd expect.
Do I recommend spending large on one of these RTX 5080s? No, unless you have money to burn.
👉 Related: Don't buy an RTX 5000 GPU before reading this
The current GPU landscape with severe stock shortages, looming tariff complications, and free rein from AIBs to jack up the prices as they see fit has unsurprisingly led us here.
While I don't doubt there will once again be cheaper RTX 5080s available at some point, if you want one now, you're not going to get a good deal.
What's the difference between these Gigabyte RTX 5080 GPUs?
NVIDIA's Founders Edition RTX 5080 reviewed by Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson can be seen as the reference card that third-party builders use as a guideline when designing custom GPUs.
Builders like Gigabyte take the chip and build a GPU around it, which is how we get cards like the AORUS Master Ice and the Gaming OC that are, at the time of writing, available at Newegg.
The biggest difference aside from aesthetics is the cooling hardware. Both of these Gigabyte GPUs have a dual-fan setup, allowing the card to run a bit faster than the Founders Edition version.
For example, the RTX 5080's baseline boost clock is about 2.62GHz. The GIGABYTE Gaming OC pushes that to 2.73GHz, while the AORUS Master Ice goes up to 2.8GHz.
Overall performance isn't going to differ much compared to the RTX 5080 that Wilson reviewed, so I urge you to use it as a guideline to determine whether or not it's the GPU for you.
The RTX 5080 Gaming OC for $1,539 and the RTX 5080 AORUS Master Ice for $1,629 aren't going to last long despite the high pricing, so don't miss out if you've been waiting for any stock to return.
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