MSI's new RTX 3090 Ti may be the most expensive GPU ever

MSI is rumored to be working on a custom version of Nvidia’s upcoming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. Now, new rumors have surfaced about the card, leaking both the specifications and the possible pricing of what will become the most powerful GPU on the market.

A quick glance at the specs shows that the card will be beastly both in terms of power consumption and its retail price. And when we say beastly, we’re really not kidding: The GPU will allegedly require a 1,000-watt power supply and may cost as much as $4,500.

The last few days have been a real roller coaster of Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti rumors. After news broke out that Nvidia may be asking board members to halt the production of custom versions of the graphics card, it seemed like we may not see the GPU hitting the market this month.

While we’re still not certain about any possible release date for the RTX 3090 Ti, Nvidia’s partners continue working on their own versions of the card. New leaks show that MSI may have at least two versions of the card in the works, and we now know more about their specifications, as well as possible pricing.

Let’s start with the specs. During its CES 2022 keynote, Nvidia wasn’t very forthcoming about the possible specifications of the card, and not much was confirmed. However, @wxnod on Twitter posted a screenshot of the alleged specifications of MSI’s RTX 3090 Ti Suprim X 24G, and they reveal a whole lot more than Nvidia ever shared. The screenshot is captioned “It’s horrible,” and it’s not a stretch to assume that @wxnod is referring to the monstrous power requirements of the card.

It's horrible pic.twitter.com/RLktG7MELQ

— Алексей (@wxnod) January 13, 2022

MSI’s RTX 3090 Ti allegedly comes with 10,752 CUDA cores, 24GB of GDDR6X memory, a 1,900MHz Extreme clock, a 384-bit memory bus, and 21Gbps of bandwidth. It also features triple 8-pin power connectors. Last but not least, it has a TDP of 480W, which means that it requires at least a 1,000W power supply.

While the power requirements are mind-boggling, they’re not unexpected. It has long been rumored that the RTX 3090 Ti will need a gargantuan power supply, and recent rumors about this EVGA model show that MSI may not even have the biggest power hog of a card up its sleeve. As it will likely swiftly climb to the top of the best graphics cards on the current market, it will offer unrivaled performance, but it all comes at a price.

Alleged prices of the RTX 3090 Ti. — Image source: VideoCardz

This brings us to the second leak regarding the MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Suprim X and RTX 3090 Ti Gaming X Trio: The pricing of these cards. Some distributors and retailers have already listed the card ahead of time, and as reported by VideoCardz, the GPU may be at least 30% pricier than the RTX 3090.

The RTX 3090 Ti has been listed on the websites of two Swiss retailers and one German distributor. The prices vary based on the source and the model, but they are all in the ballpark of $3,500 to $4,500 after conversion, with the most expensive card priced at around $4,497. Keep in mind that there is no telling whether these are placeholder prices, but for an enthusiast ultra-high-end GPU, it is possible that the RTX 3090 Ti will really sell for almost $4,500.

The future of the Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti remains uncertain. Nvidia hasn’t commented on the rumors that production has been halted, and these leaks show that the release of the card is still very much underway. We may hear more soon: Nvidia promised to reveal more about the card this month.