“Graphics cards from partner manufacturers at target price not to be expected at launch”

When Nvidia unveiled its new Geforce RTX 2000 series, they also confirmed the prices for these, which has become one of the major topics of discussion in advance. What many have reacted to is, among other things, the unusually high price tag for the top model Geforce RTX 2080 Ti, which ends up at around SEK 14,000 for Nvidia’s own Founders Edition model.

In an interview with Hothardware, Nvidia’s marketing manager Tom Petersen says that customers probably cannot expect price tags on a par with Nvidia’s own target prices at launch. Petersen refers specifically to models from partner manufacturers and believes that prices will vary depending on what they think is reasonable considering what they offer.

The partners are basically going to hit the entire price point range between our entry level price, which will be $499, up to whatever they feel is the appropriate price for the value that they’re delivering. […] It is like most things, when they’re first introduced supply is low and demand is high and prices can sometimes elevate. But Nvidia’s approach to solving that, and making sure gamers get prices that are fair to gamers, is we drive volume. And when volume comes into the market that’s when prices normalise.

Petersen explains this by saying that at the beginning of a launch there is a greater demand than supply, which results in a higher price. At the same time, he says that they work hard to keep prices down by increasing production so that they can meet demand.

The target price for models from partner manufacturers is USD 799 for Geforce RTX 2080 and USD 999 for RTX 2080 Ti, corresponding to SEK 9,100 and SEK 11,400, respectively, including VAT. However, these are only target prices, which means the lowest level manufacturers have to pay.

The Geforce RTX 2000 series will be Nvidia’s first brand new in over two years and will also introduce the Turing architecture. It brings a number of innovations, both when it comes to pure performance and support for new technologies. Nvidia collects them under the name RTX and they include, among other things, ray tracing in real time as well as more effective edge smoothing in the form of Deep Learning Super-Sampling, or DLSS.

SweClockers recently asked several large Swedish retailers about the sale and all testified to a large number of pre-bookings in advance. It was also clear at the time that the Geforce RTX 2080 Ti, with a price tag of around SEK 15,000, is the most popular when it comes to the number of pre-bookings.

Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 and RTX 208 Ti launched on September 20. The Founders Edition models have a recommended price tag of SEK 9,199 and SEK 13,999, respectively, in Nvidia’s online store. The product family is expected to expand during the month of October, with the launch of the Geforce RTX 2070.