The launch of Nvidia's RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs is eagerly anticipated, with a scheduled release date of January 30. However, concerns about potential shortages have been raised by both retailers and brands. Enthusiasts are already camping outside stores in anticipation of getting their hands on these highly sought-after graphics cards, which are priced at $1,999 for the RTX 5090 and $999 for the RTX 5080.
MSI, a prominent manufacturer, has indicated through WCCFTech that the supply of the new GPUs will be limited at launch due to the timing of the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year. This holiday is expected to impact the initial availability of the cards, though stock levels are predicted to improve starting in February.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 – Photos
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Specific concerns about the RTX 5090's availability have been voiced by retailers like Overclockers UK, which claims to have received only a handful of units so far. Similarly, last week, they reported having just a "few hundred" RTX 5080 GPUs available for the launch. U.S. retailer PowerGPU echoed these concerns, tweeting that the RTX 5090's launch might be the most challenging in terms of availability.
In response to the growing concerns, Nvidia's Tim@Nvidia posted a statement on the company's official forum titled “GeForce RTX 50 Series Availability,” reassuring customers by saying, "We expect significant demand for the GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 and believe stock-outs may happen. Nvidia and our partners are shipping more stock to retail every day to help get GPUs into the hands of gamers."
Amid these supply issues, scalpers are already taking advantage of the situation. Listings for RTX 5090 GPUs have appeared on eBay as "pre-sale" items. For instance, an Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 is listed by a collectibles reseller for a staggering $5,750, marking a 187% increase over the card's original $1,999 MSRP.
Adding to Nvidia's challenges, the company's share price tumbled by 16.86% on Monday due to the emergence of the Chinese AI model DeepSeek. This model's claim of being trained for just $6 million has raised questions about Nvidia’s prospects in the datacenter GPU market.
