Nvidia's flagship graphics card, the RTX 5090, has been notoriously difficult to find at its manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) since launch. However, recent developments in European markets suggest this situation might be improving, while separate benchmarks reveal the card's formidable computational power extends beyond gaming into security applications.
RTX 5090 Finally Approaching MSRP in Finland
After months of inflated prices across global markets, the RTX 5090 is finally becoming available close to its official MSRP in Finland. According to recent reports, MSI's Ventus 3X OC model is currently retailing for €2,455.90, with decent stock availability. While this price is still slightly above the Finnish MSRP of €2,339, it represents a significant improvement over previous markups.
The Finnish pricing includes the country's substantial 25.5% VAT, making the effective price even more attractive when compared internationally. Additionally, purchases come with the DOOM: The Dark Ages bundle (valued at €109.99), further enhancing the value proposition for potential buyers.
| RTX 5090 Pricing | Value |
|---|---|
| Finnish MSRP | €2,339 |
| Current Finnish price (MSI Ventus 3X OC) | €2,455.90 |
| US price (MSI Ventus 3X OC) | $2,999.99 (≈€2,665) |
| Finnish VAT rate | 25.5% |
| Included game bundle value | €109.99 |
European Price Trends Showing Improvement
This Finnish pricing development follows a broader trend of improving GPU availability and pricing across Europe. Recently, the RTX 5070 dropped below MSRP in France, while the newer RTX 5060 Ti became available below MSRP in the UK (though only for the 8GB version). The high-end segment, including the flagship RTX 5090, has been slower to see price normalization until now.
When comparing international pricing, the Finnish offer appears particularly competitive. The same MSI Ventus 3X OC model sells for $2,999.99 (approximately €2,665) in the US official MSI store, making the Finnish pricing more attractive even with the high VAT included.
Impressive Password Cracking Performance Revealed
Beyond gaming and AI applications, the RTX 5090 has demonstrated remarkable capabilities in security-related tasks, specifically password hash cracking. Recent benchmarks by Hive Systems showcase the card's computational prowess in this domain.
A single RTX 5090 can crack an eight-character numerical password hash in just three hours, representing a 33% performance improvement over its predecessor, the RTX 4090, which requires four hours for the same task. When scaled to 12 RTX 5090 cards working in parallel, the time drops dramatically to just 15 minutes.
| Password Cracking Performance (8-character passwords) | RTX 5090 | RTX 4090 | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers only (single GPU) | 3 hours | 4 hours | 33% faster |
| Numbers only (12 GPUs) | 15 minutes | Not specified | - |
| Lowercase letters only (12 GPUs) | 3 weeks | Not specified | - |
| Mixed case + numbers + symbols (single GPU) | ~1000 years | ~2000 years | 100% faster |
| Mixed case + numbers + symbols (12 GPUs) | 164 years | Not specified | - |
Security Implications and Generational Performance Gains
The performance gap between the RTX 5090 and RTX 4090 widens as password complexity increases. For hashes representing passwords with mixed case letters, numbers, and symbols, the RTX 5090 reportedly performs twice as fast as the RTX 4090, though cracking such complex passwords would still take an impractically long time—approximately a millennium for a single card.
These benchmarks highlight the importance of password complexity in modern security practices. While an eight-character password consisting of only lowercase letters would take 12 RTX 5090s about three weeks to crack, adding uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols extends this timeframe to 164 years, demonstrating how relatively small changes in password composition can dramatically enhance security.
Market Implications
The improving price situation for Nvidia's flagship GPU suggests that supply chains might be stabilizing after the initial launch period. If this trend continues to spread beyond Finland to other markets, it could signal a broader normalization of high-end GPU pricing, which has been significantly inflated since the beginning of the RTX 50 series launch.
For consumers who have been waiting for prices to drop before upgrading, these developments provide a glimmer of hope that the premium GPU market might finally be becoming more accessible, even if only gradually and in specific regions for now.