Asus' golden RTX 5080 card is now in the US, but with no gold and a stupid price

The Asus ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 Dhahab has appeared once again, but this time it's not in the Middle East. Instead, the card is gearing up for a US launch, only it appears to be missing the one huge feature that made the other Dhahab cards unique. Oh, and it costs $900 above MSRP.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 currently sits on our guide to the best graphics card, specifically as the best under $1,000. This makes the Asus Dhahab edition look like an incredibly poor value card by comparison, especially when it appears to be missing the core feature that makes the Dhahab Edition cards stand out… the gold.

We've been covering the Dhahab graphics cards since they first popped up around three months ago as a Middle East exclusive. These RTX 5090 Dhahab cards include 6.5g of 24-carat gold in the design and retail for approximately $10,600 after currency conversion.

Scalpers would go on to try and sell the cards for as much as $23,000 on eBay, although we cast plenty of doubt over the legitimacy of these listings given that they appear to share the same 'real-world' product images.

Next came the RTX 5080 Dhahab, using the same 6.5g of 24-carat gold in its design and having the same regional exclusivity. Now, the US is getting the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 Dhahab Core. There's a curious lack of a single mention of "gold" on Asus' product page for this graphics card, suggesting that no real gold is used in it at all. Surely, if there was even an ounce of gold in the card, Asus would at least mention it?

Despite this, however, the card comes with an MSRP of $1,899.99, which is $900 more than the RTX 5080's $999.99 MSRP.  Basically, you're paying 90% above MSRP for a golden graphics card that contains no actual gold. But hey, at least you get a GPU overclock and one month free of Adobe Creative Cloud with your purchase.

If you're in the market for a new gaming machine, but don't want to build it yourself, you can check out our extensive guides to buying the best gaming PC for your needs and budget, as well as the best gaming laptop, for some guidance.

What are your thoughts on the Dhahab line of graphics cards? Would you buy one, or are you after something a little more discreet? Let us know in our Discord server.