But again, the cards aren't placed at MSRP of $600, they are all above that at the prices I previous stated. That is the MSRP for those cards. Retailers are pricing them even higher in some areas (esp small / 3rd party shops).
This is correct. But let me provide a bit more back story to make this all clearer.
The cheapest GTX 1080 was originally going to be the EVGA GTX 1080 Gaming at $610:
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=08G-P4-5180-KR
The MSRP has since gone up to $620, and as far as I can tell the product was never launched.
The next-cheapest is the EVGA GTX 1080 ACX at $620:
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=08G-P4-6181-KR
Similarly, I believe EVGA has pulled this model from the market, as I haven't seen it listed for sale since custom-card launch day (June 16th). Coincidentally, I'm waiting on a Step-Up to this model from my EVGA GTX 1070, and I fully expect never to receive it!
Currently the lowest MSRP on a GTX 1080 actually available for sale is the Gigabyte WindForce at $630, followed by the Zotac Amp at $640, and then the EVGA Superclocked (which I own) at $650.
This whole mess began when Nvidia's CEO lied on stage, launching the GTX 1080 as a $600 product. This price was never listed on Nvidia's website, because no Nvidia-branded 1080 would ever sell for that much. But tech sites parroted the lie over and over, in some cases reviewing the 1080 FE and judging its performance based on a $600 price. This was a tremendous error on the part of these sites. They bought into the hype and did a disservice to readers.
The GTX 1080 is ultimately a $700 card that board partners can choose to discount if they wish. Some have shown that they do not wish to, particularly Asus and MSI. I think these two companies are really going to suffer lower sales this generation, as EVGA, Zotac, and Gigabyte sell equivalent products for $50-$100 less.
And now Nvidia is turning around and stabbing these board partners in the back (again), by not allowing them to sell the Titan X Pascal. It's definitely making the most of its dominant market position!