MSI has announced a lottery for the right to purchase its limited edition GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning video card in Taiwan. According to the manufacturer, 10 winners will be able to buy the top GPU at a price of 165,000 New Taiwan dollars, which is equivalent to 5,200 US dollars (about 416,000 rubles).
The video card was first presented at CES 2026. Its main feature is two 12V-2X6 power connectors, which in total provide up to 1600 W of power. Thanks to such a power supply, this model has set several world records in benchmarks even before its official release, demonstrating the potential of MSI's flagship solutions.
Lightning is not for the mass market, even for wealthy enthusiasts. Production quantity is limited to only 1,300 pieces. Priced at over $5,000, it's aimed at overclockers willing to invest heavily to get the most out of the CPU and GPU. However, the card's exclusivity also attracts the attention of those who don't intend to overclock too much.
Despite its high price, the RTX 5090 Lightning is not the most expensive graphics card on the market. That title belongs to the Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 Dhabab Edition for the Middle East, which ranges in price from $6,700 to $10,600 depending on the country. One user even created a custom gold version of the Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090D: the card weighs 7.6 kg, of which 5 kg is gold (for comparison, the standard Dhabab version has only 6.5 grams of gold). It was originally planned to be auctioned for charity, but a private collector bought the card for half a million dollars.
Among other expensive RTX 5090 models, the Asus ROG Matrix Platinum RTX 5090 stands out with its 800 W TDP and suggested price of nearly $4,000. Only 1,000 cards were produced and they sold out immediately, although some buyers encountered quality control problems. The Gigabyte Aorus RTX 5090 Infinity model with a premium price tag is also expected to be launched; The exact release date is still unknown.
