Scalpers list ROG Astral RTX 5090 Dhahab Edition GPU for as much as $22,900 on eBay

The GeForce RTX 5090 stands out as one of the best graphics cards on the market, so its high price is no surprise. However, there is a distinction between merely expensive graphics cards and those that cost a king's ransom. The Asus ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition certainly falls into the latter group.

To begin with, the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition is exclusively available to the Middle Eastern market; thus, it cannot be found on the shelves of any retailer in the United States. One may acquire the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition through online e-commerce platforms, such as eBay. However — as is often the case — one will be subject to the practices of overseas sellers and opportunistic scalpers.

The ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition has, naturally, been put up for sale on eBay. The prices listed vary according to the seller, but a common factor is that all these sellers are based in China. Consequently, the eBay sellers likely possess connections within the supply chain in China, which allowed them to acquire stock that was initially intended for shipment to the Middle East.

eBay sellers are offering the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition priced at $8,500, $14,998, and $22,990. With an MSRP of $6,806, this marks a scalper markup ranging from 1.2X to 3.4X on an already-pricey graphics card. And, of course, customs duties will further increase the total cost.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Pricing

Asus produces some of the highest-priced custom GeForce RTX 5090 models available, making the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition a fitting addition. When we look at the MSRPs, this exclusive edition graphics card is priced at nearly twice that of the vanilla ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 32GB GDDR7 OC Edition, which doesn’t feature the elaborate embellishments and gold plating.

Compared to the competition, the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition is more than twice as expensive as other premium models like the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 AMP Extreme Infinity, the MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G Suprim Liquid SOC, and the Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 5090 Xtreme WaterForce 32G. And it costs as much as 3.4 times more than the GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition.

Performance-wise, the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition is the same as the standard ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 32GB GDDR7 OC Edition. However, it boasts a boost clock of up to 2,610 MHz, ranking among the highest factory overclocks available, second only to the Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 5090 Xtreme WaterForce 32G. Compared to a reference GeForce RTX 5090, the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition features an 8% higher boost clock. However, this increase is unlikely to be noticeable in real-world use unless you measure frame rates with recording software or intentionally benchmark different clock speeds.

With scalper pricing starting at $8,500, the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab OC Edition definitely isn't suitable for everyone. Even if priced at MSRP ($6,806), it remains an unwise investment, as you could instead buy a standard GeForce RTX 5090 and still have enough funds left over to build an entire high-end gaming system centered around the Blackwell flagship.

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