Custom PC builder explains why its RTX 5090 builds cost $5,000+: "We're getting scalped!"

A hot potato: Remember during the chip crisis when people were so desperate for graphics cards that they were buying prebuilds just for the GPUs? The complete lack of RTX 5000 stock has led some gamers to once again consider this extreme measure, but one desktop vendor has warned, "we're getting scalped," meaning custom RTX 5090 builds are priced at $5,000 or more.

Jese Martinez, CEO of custom PC builder PowerGPU, posted a video on X explaining that the company is facing the same problems with securing RTX 5090 cards as everyone else.

The RTX 5090 has an MSRP of $1,999, but finding one at that price (or in stock at retailers) right now is an impossibility. Martinez says system integrators like PowerGPU are facing the same issues.

The CEO says it took two to three weeks after launch for PowerGPU to receive the first batch of RTX 5090 cards. Now, he says the company is "getting scalped, literally."

Martinez says PowerGPU is being offered RTX 5090s anywhere from $3,050 to $3,100, which isn't far from what you'd pay for one on eBay. And that isn't even for the high-end models like the Asus ROG Astral; it's the price for low- to mid-range models.

A significant video from our founder/CEO on the RTX 5090 pricing. pic.twitter.com/6GEvYFkD9K

It's due to these massive prices that custom builds with RTX 5090 cards on PowerGPU's website cost around $5,000. Right now, adding an RTX 5090 to one of the company's custom builds adds $3,450 to the total cost. There's also a warning that the current ETA for these cards is three to four months.

Martinez says these prices have led to some clients accusing PowerGPU of scalping. "We explain it to them. This is literally what's happening right now with this market. It is insane," he said.

"People are willing to pay for it, but I feel horrible," Martinez adds. "I just feel gross. Like, literally my whole team, we all feel just disgusted when we see these prices."

It's not just PowerGPU; other system builders are being forced to add astronomical prices to PCs with RTX 5090s.

A message in the video also mentions the 20% tariff that the Trump administration implemented on goods from China playing a part in the prices. But PowerGPU says that companies are taking advantage of the tariffs by charging more than 20% for these items.

Further illustrating the RTX 5000 pricing problem, manufacturer Colorful has partnered with an Indian retailer for a competition in which three "winners" get to buy an RTX 5080 at its MSRP.