MSI Addresses GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X Price Controversy And Tries To Make Good
MSI has issued an apology for jacking up the price of its GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X graphics cards after reviews (including our own) reflecting the original MSRP were published. According to a statement released by MSI, the higher price on its own webstore boiled down to a miscommunication. MSI has since restored the original pricing, but what about those who already overpaid?
"MSI would like to apologize for this misunderstanding and if there happened to be any circumstances that anyone bought the card at The Official U.S Online Store of MSI with the wrong price, we will fully refund the extra charge of it," MSI said a statement provided to TechPowerUp.
The GeForce RTX 4090 is a monster graphics card, and MSI's Suprim Liquid X model ups the ante with an attached all-in-one liquid cooler to supplement the air cooling shroud. Combined with overclocked specs, the liquid cooled card delivered class-leading benchmark results in our hands-on testing. As we noted in our review, it's "smaller, faster, quieter, it runs cooler, and it will put less stress on the expansion slot" compared to NVIDIA's Founder Edition model.
It's also a bit more expensive at $1,749, compared to $1,599 for the FE card. Some will find the $150 price difference justifiable for the added benefits, others may not. But where MSI sparked a controversy is when its online store listed the card for $1,935. That's a $186 price difference compared to the original MSRP that was reflected in reviews, and increases the gap between the FE model to $336.
That obviously didn't sit with users on Reddit, who accused MSI of scalping its own graphics card. Sensitivity to such a thing is particularly high at the moment, with retailers quickly selling out of their initial batches of GeForce RTX 4090 cards, leading to eBay scalpers reselling them for enormous markups.
Here is MSI's statement in full...
"MSI is aware of an article from the forum regarding the raised price of RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X. As a matter of fact, it was our negligence to mismatch the price. The price of RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X will remain at 1749.99 USD, which is exactly the same price as we launched the product.
MSI would like to apologize for this misunderstanding and if there happened to be any circumstances that anyone bought the card at The Official U.S Online Store of MSI with the wrong price, we will fully refund the extra charge of it.
We would also like to express our appreciation to our customers as well as the reviewers that have always been supportive of us."
Whether MSI tried to pull a fast one or it truly was a miscommunication, the end result is that the card's original price is restored, and a partial refund is available to anyone who paid the higher price. As they say, all's well that ends well.
