Asus is finally bringing RTX 5080 card themed around everyone's favourite Vocaloid songstress to the US—but there's a steep Miku tax
I'm a huge fan of all things Miku Hatsune. From the many Miku figurines taking over my desk to all of the rhythm games I shall simply never get good at, there's something about the twin-tailed virtual idol that simply sparks joy for me. What definitely does not spark joy, though, is the idea of a themed RTX 5080 costing nearly $2,000.
I've written about the Asus x Hatsune Miku collaboration before, which already includes themed monitors, motherboards, and much more besides. Now, the range is set to expand and will soon offer a decidedly dear graphics card for sale; the new Hatsune Miku edition of the ROG Astral Geforce RTX 5080 O16G is apparently set to cost $1,900 (via Videocardz).
It's an eye-watering price tag, pitching up with a 90% markup over the MSRP of the standard RTX 5080. Listen, I love the Vocaloid diva and I was fully expecting a Miku-Miku tax on this range—but that's a lot of money for a humble weeb like me.
Besides the tasteful teal, pink, and black colourway, this incredibly pricey card does offer some swish features. One of these is dual BIOS modes, allowing you to switch between the low core temp performance mode, or the quiet fans of quality mode. It's not quite enough to justify the price Asus ROG is asking, but it's neat nonetheless.
It's clear Asus ROG is after collector money here. While I appreciate the card's four-fan design and the resulting enhanced vertical airflow, this bit of kit isn't really seeking to spelunk the pockets of a typical, performance-focused consumer. While I'm decidedly the former and not the latter, $1,900 is still an awful lot of dough.
Though I'm convinced there are very few things the virtual diva can't do (she's gone to space and is playing among the stars as I type, after all), I'm fairly confident that not even she can part me from such a sum of money.
Add to that the fact that our Kara reckons other parts of the Asus collab are a case of style over substance, and I'm probably better off spending my pennies on yet more Miku figurines rather than this hardware.