The RTX 5090 at MSRP only exists at PAX West
By Reiner A.·

Gaming hardware news: the September 12, 2026 roundup

Nvidia proved its RTX 5090 list price still technically exists — you just have to fly to a trade show and find the right employee. Meanwhile, DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction finally reaches a major game for every RTX card, and Razer, HyperX and Logitech are all fighting for your next peripheral purchase, with an event just around the corner.

Nvidia sold the RTX 5090 for $1,999 at PAX West — and only there

During PAX West in Seattle (September 4-7), Nvidia brought back its Verified Priority Access “IRL” program: Jacob Freeman, the employee Nvidia itself nicknames the “GeForce Evangelist,” handed out purchase codes on the show floor that, once redeemed on Nvidia’s own store, unlocked the RTX 5090, RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 at their original list prices — $1,999, $999 and $549. Nobody walked out with a box under their arm, since the code gets redeemed online afterward, but the price on the other end was real (Tom’s Hardware, TechPowerUp). A PC Gamer writer ran the full math: a last-minute flight, a PAX day pass and a $1,999 RTX 5090 added up to around $3,440 — still cheaper than the roughly $5,500 Best Buy was charging for the same card off the shelf. Freeman himself ran out of RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 stock before the show’s third day ended (PC Gamer).

What this means for your next purchase: for you, in practice, nothing changes. This isn’t a real buying channel for the average shopper — it’s a marketing move that lets Nvidia say “MSRP still exists” without touching the actual market, where the 5090 is still hovering around the $5,000 mark we covered last time. Unless you happen to be at an Nvidia event with a lucky code in hand, shop with the street price in mind, not the box price. Updated price ranges live in best value graphics cards and the full manufacturer comparison is in Nvidia vs AMD: graphics cards.

DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction comes to 007: First Light — and this time it’s for every RTX card

Nvidia released Game Ready driver 616.92 on September 9, laying the groundwork for a full path-tracing and DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction update to 007: First Light, arriving September 15. The same driver adds support for Active Matter, Aniimo and WARDOGS (Nvidia, TechPowerUp).

What this means for your next purchase: this lines up right against what we covered last time with DLSS 5. Ray Reconstruction 4.5 runs on any RTX card from the 20 series onward — you don’t need a Blackwell GPU to use it. If you’ve got an old RTX 3060 or 2070 sitting in a drawer, this major game update is a genuine reason to grab the driver and try it, for free. It doesn’t move our card recommendation, but it’s a good reminder that not everything new from Nvidia forces you to buy again. For how much memory your next card actually needs, see how much VRAM do you need in 2026.

Razer paints its Huntsman V3 Pro TKL keyboard red and black for Sentinels

At the same PAX West, where Razer served as the event’s official peripherals partner, the company unveiled the Huntsman V3 Pro Tenkeyless 8KHz Sentinels Edition: a red anodized aluminum top plate and black doubleshot PBT keycaps honoring the esports team’s colors, plus a magnetic wrist rest with the SEN wordmark. Underneath, it’s the same keyboard as always — second-generation Analog Optical Switches and true 8000 Hz HyperPolling, with latency Razer rates at 0.48 ms. Price: $250 (Razer Newsroom).

What this means for your next purchase: if you like the Sentinels look, it’s a reasonable splurge by the standards of these keyboards. But if performance is what you’re after, this edition adds nothing the standard Huntsman V3 Pro TKL doesn’t already have — you’re paying the same for the switch and the polling rate, and only the finish and the team license change. For picking a keyboard size, our guide is still 60% vs TKL vs full-size, and the full lineup of tested options is in best gaming keyboards.

HyperX lines up a mid-range assault: new headset, mouse and microphone

HyperX (under HP) unveiled three products in late August that start shipping through September: the Cloud Alpha Air, its first open-back gaming headset, using “Bass Tube” technology to keep bass response despite the open design ($149.99); the Pulsefire Haste 3 Pro, a 47-gram wireless mouse with an in-house sensor ($129.99); and the SoloCast 2 Pro streaming microphone ($89.99) (HP Newsroom).

What this means for your next purchase: on paper, all three aim straight at the mid-range segment Razer and Logitech currently dominate, undercutting them somewhat on similar specs. That said, these are announced products, not tested ones — a 47-gram weight or a “Bass Tube” sound good in a press release, but what matters is how they actually feel and sound in hand. Our recommendation for now: if you need to buy today, tested picks are still in best gaming headsets, best gaming mice and best gaming microphone; if you can wait a few weeks for independent reviews of these three, it’s worth it, since at this price they’re competing with gear we already know well.

Logitech G sets its annual event for September 23

Logitech confirmed its G PLAY 2026 event — the fifth since the format started — will run September 23 with simultaneous venues in Los Angeles, Warsaw and Shanghai, plus an esports final in Warsaw the day before. The company is promising “new hardware reveals” spanning PC, console, esports and sim racing, streamed live starting at 9:00 a.m. Pacific (Logitech).

What this means for your next purchase: there’s not one confirmed product yet, so there’s little to analyze — but if you had a current-generation Logitech G mouse or keyboard in your cart, waiting a week makes sense. Events like this usually come with discounts on the outgoing lineup to make room for new gear. We’ll follow up with an analysis once the actual announcements land.

What to do with all this

  • If you’re dreaming of an RTX 5090 at list price: forget it unless you happen to catch an Nvidia event in person. In regular stores, it’s still hovering around the $5,000 we reported last time.
  • If you own any RTX card, even an older-generation one: install driver 616.92 and try DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction in 007: First Light on September 15 — unlike DLSS 5, this one actually runs on your current card.
  • If the Sentinels Edition Huntsman V3 Pro TKL tempts you: buy the standard model if performance is all you care about; the special finish doesn’t change a single switch underneath.
  • If you’re upgrading a headset, mouse or microphone in the mid-range: wait for the first independent reviews of HyperX’s new lineup before choosing between it and equally priced Razer or Logitech gear.

Sources

A note on where this comes from: every story in this edition is an official announcement, press release, or direct coverage of a live event (PAX West) — no projections or unconfirmed leaks made the cut this time.

Missed last time? Here’s the September 5 roundup, with the RTX 5090 hitting $5,000 in stores and DLSS 5 exclusive to RTX 50.