The much-anticipated launch of Nvidia's RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs is set for January 30, but concerns about potential shortages are already making waves. Eager buyers are even camping outside stores in hopes of securing one of these highly sought-after graphics cards, despite their steep price tags of $1,999 for the RTX 5090 and $999 for the RTX 5080.
Manufacturer MSI, as reported by WCCFTech, has warned that the initial supply of these GPUs will be limited due to the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year. This holiday is expected to impact the first wave of shipments, with stock levels anticipated to improve throughout February and beyond.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 – Photos
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Retailers have echoed these concerns, particularly regarding the RTX 5090. Overclockers UK claimed to have received only "single digits at present," while last week it reported having just a "few hundred" RTX 5080 GPUs available for launch. U.S. retailer PowerGPU further fueled these worries by tweeting that "The launch of the RTX 5090 will be the worst when it comes to availability."
In response to the growing unease, Nvidia's representative, Tim@Nvidia, posted a statement on the company's official forum titled "GeForce RTX 50 Series Availability." The statement acknowledges the high demand and potential for stock-outs but reassures customers that Nvidia and its partners are actively shipping more stock to retailers daily to meet the demand.
Amid these supply concerns, scalpers are already taking advantage of the situation. Listings for RTX 5090 GPUs have appeared on eBay as "pre-sale," with one notable example being an Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 offered by a collectibles reseller for a staggering $5,750—a 187% markup over the card's $1,999 MSRP.
Adding to Nvidia's challenges, the company's share price tumbled by 16.86% on Monday following the emergence of the Chinese AI model DeepSeek. This model, reportedly trained for just $6 million, poses a potential threat to Nvidia's datacenter GPU sales, complicating the company's focus during this critical launch period.
