Want A Gold-Plated GeForce RTX 5090? Get Ready To Spend Up To $23K
Graphics card pricing has reached unprecedented levels these days, thanks to a combination of an artificial intelligence (AI) gold rush, rabid demand by gamers, uncertainty over tariffs, and generally tomfoolery on the part of add-in board (AIB) partners. But when has a flagship graphics card for gamers ever commanded in the neighborhood of $23,000? Right now, is the answer.
There are caveats that go with that statement. For one, there's no consumer graphics card that actually has a $23,000 MSRP, or anywhere even close to it, at least not that we are aware of. However, MSRPs for custom models have been fluid for this round for GPUs, and in this case, ASUS recently released a special gold-themed variant of the GeForce RTX 5090, that being its ROG Astral Dhahab OC Edition.
For reference, the GeForce RTX 5090 in Founders Edition form carries a $1,999 MSRP. Some custom models by ASUS have breached the $3,000 mark, while the Dhahab OC model is valued at around $6,800 when converting from United Arab Emirates Dirham currency (24,990 AED) to USD, or even up to a couple grand higher depending on the country (it's not globally available).
The card has now found its way to eBay, however, with much higher asking prices by greedy scalpers (what is else is new, right?). There are at least 10 listings (that we found), with the lowest asking price set at $8,500. There's only one listed at that price. Eight others are listed for $14,998, while the highest-priced listing is set at an eye-popping $22,990.
Folks, we checked and the math isn't mathing on that one. How so? The Dhahab OC Edition contains 6.5 grams of 999 fineness gold plating. That works out to around $700 worth of gold. Purely on a part-for-part basis, we're looking at a $1,999 GPU with $700 worth of gold, which adds up to $2,699.
Of course, being a limited edition card and highly unique, it's understandable that ASUS would price it much higher. It's also factory overclocked and meticulously designed to pay homage to the Middle East. The gold-plated shroud contains several interesting bits, like skyscrapers to "illustrate the strength of contemporary Middle East," calligraphy, and other cool accents.
It's definitely a collector's item as much as it is a functional, high-end graphics card. But is it worth nearly $23,000? That's for buyers on eBay to decide. If you want to try and snag one for a lot less, though, note that ASUS is holding a charity auction for the same gold-plated GPU, and the card comes signed by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. The auction runs until June 13, 2025. The current high bid (at the time of this writing) is $11,970 so it's still an expensive card, but at least there's a charity angle.
