Tuesday, June 17th 2025

NVIDIA RTX 50 Series GPUs at MSRP in the Most Unexpected Place: US Navy

by
AleksandarK
 Discuss (10 Comments)
The US Navy Exchange (NEX) store has become a surprising platform for acquiring NVIDIA's RTX 50-series graphics cards at their manufacturer's suggested retail prices. A Reddit user, known as Accomplished-Feed123, shared that by combining various store promotions and credit card rewards, they managed to purchase a GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition for just $1,900, which is significantly below the typical retail price. Savvy shoppers have long discovered open‑box electronics and gaming hardware bargains there. On this occasion, the Reddit user noticed several "largeish brown boxes" hidden behind a locked display that usually houses Apple products.

Those boxes contained multiple RTX 5070 and RTX 5080 cards, along with a single RTX 5090, all priced at their suggested MSRPs of $550, $999, and $1,999, respectively. A quick online search of the part numbers confirmed that the top‑end card was indeed the Founders Edition model. After applying applicable discounts and card rewards, Accomplished‑Feed123 walked away, paying only $1,900 out of pocket. Access to NEX is restricted to active and retired military members and their families, operating under the motto "You Serve, You Save." However, many consumers may know someone eligible for these benefits. Other branches of the US armed forces maintain similar exchange stores, though GPU availability and pricing may differ by location.
Sources: Reddit, via Tom's Hardware

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10 Comments on NVIDIA RTX 50 Series GPUs at MSRP in the Most Unexpected Place: US Navy

#1
Bwaze
Can you take a gaming computer with RTX 5090 on a submarine, or aircraft carrier? Electricity shouldn't be a problem, being nuclear reactors... :p
Posted on Reply
#2
MentalAcetylide
BwazeCan you take a gaming computer with RTX 5090 on a submarine, or aircraft carrier? Electricity shouldn't be a problem, being nuclear reactors... :p
heh, I don't think so. I don't think even the captain of the ship could, at least not without going against regulations. If anything, I think service members' family that live on or near the base would benefit from it since they're allowed to shop there or friends who accompany them could have them purchase it for them. Its probably something worth looking into if you have any friends or family members in one of the branches of service. I don't know what its like now in the Army, Navy, or Air Force with regards to security, but you wouldn't want to have that kind of stuff in the barracks back in the day when I was in if you were enlisted. There were a lot of thieves stealing stuff to sell in pawn shops. So unless you were an officer, lived in on-post housing, or lived off-post, its not worth the risk keeping high-value items in the barracks.
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#3
AnarchoPrimitiv
Kinda funny....a build with literally the MOST expensive consumer gaming GPU and probably some of the cheapest Thermalright fans on the market.
Posted on Reply
#4
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
BwazeCan you take a gaming computer with RTX 5090 on a submarine, or aircraft carrier? Electricity shouldn't be a problem, being nuclear reactors... :p
Ive heard SOME people on Navy ships being allowed to have a laptop or desktop with them but this was a long while back. It probably depends a lot on what you do within the Navy.

its probably not possible now due to people being extremely stupid
Posted on Reply
#5
Bwaze
AnarchoPrimitivKinda funny....a build with literally the MOST expensive consumer gaming GPU and probably some of the cheapest Thermalright fans on the market.
As it should be? I think we see the other way around too often, builds with lower tier GPUs in extremely expensive cases, with extremely expensive cooling - like custom water cooling on RTX x080 and lower tier cards...
Posted on Reply
#6
bonehead123
BwazeCan you take a gaming computer with RTX 5090 on a submarine, or aircraft carrier? Electricity shouldn't be a problem, being nuclear reactors... :p
If you have ever been on a naval vessel, you probably would not be asking this question, as most normal crew quarters are very, very small & usually crammed with at least 2 people, and sometimes 3 or 4, leaving very little room for amenities like computers (especially a desktop), and also, connectivity/comms on naval vessels is extremely limited and constantly monitored both by onboard systems as well as command personnel at various land bases along the path of their missions, as any unauthorized signals would constitute a serious breach of security and would more than likely subject the offender(s) to a court martial (trial), prison time, and ejection from the service...

Now, a tablet or smartphone obviously would fit, and MIGHT be allowed, but ONLY with proper prior authorization & clearance from a commander, and the same connection issues will still apply....

But IIRC, you can't stuff a 50xx card into a lappy or tablet, hahahaha :)
Posted on Reply
#8
GhostRyder
FreedomEclipseIve heard SOME people on Navy ships being allowed to have a laptop or desktop with them but this was a long while back. It probably depends a lot on what you do within the Navy.

its probably not possible now due to people being extremely stupid
BwazeCan you take a gaming computer with RTX 5090 on a submarine, or aircraft carrier? Electricity shouldn't be a problem, being nuclear reactors... :p
I'm just imagining someone bringing their gaming laptop on a submarine and then on break they are playing Silent Hunter 4 or 5 lol.
Posted on Reply
#9
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
GhostRyderI'm just imagining someone bringing their gaming laptop on a submarine and then on break they are playing Silent Hunter 4 or 5 lol.
or UBOAT


Posted on Reply
#10
MentalAcetylide
bonehead123If you have ever been on a naval vessel, you probably would not be asking this question, as most normal crew quarters are very, very small & usually crammed with at least 2 people, and sometimes 3 or 4, leaving very little room for amenities like computers (especially a desktop), and also, connectivity/comms on naval vessels is extremely limited and constantly monitored both by onboard systems as well as command personnel at various land bases along the path of their missions, as any unauthorized signals would constitute a serious breach of security and would more than likely subject the offender(s) to a court martial (trial), prison time, and ejection from the service...

Now, a tablet or smartphone obviously would fit, and MIGHT be allowed, but ONLY with proper prior authorization & clearance from a commander, and the same connection issues will still apply....

But IIRC, you can't stuff a 50xx card into a lappy or tablet, hahahaha :)
Yeah, security is the big one. Remember the Russian soldiers that were getting pinpointed & attacked because they were using cell phones in the combat theater. I don't think they even allow personal cell phones/tablets on submarines as those things can be tracked & would pretty much nullify any stealth capabilities. I hope our armed forces have enough common sense to make personnel leave all their personal electronic devices in their barracks or at home and not allow them to bring the devices to their job or training exercises.
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Jul 15th, 2025 03:04 CDT change timezone

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