- More last-minute rumors are swirling about low stock for Nvidia’s RTX 5090 and 5080
- Launch day stock for the RTX 5090 is claimed to be very thin on the ground
- The RTX 5080 situation sounds better, but stock looks to be only about half of that seen with the RTX 4080 launch, which still isn’t great
Want more bad news about the stock of Nvidia’s RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs? No, I bet you don’t, but unfortunately – and predictably – there are several final helpings of inventory-related woe as we head into the day when these graphics cards actually go on sale.
First up, we have Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID), who in his latest YouTube video addresses RTX 5090 and 5080 stock (among other topics) once again.
According to the YouTuber this is a ‘lack of a launch’ from Nvidia, in fact, and what MLID presents is a very similar collection of feedback (sprinkle the usual seasoning) from inside sources to that aired in another recent video.
Those sources come from three major retailers (two in the US, all anonymous as ever) and all basically say that RTX 5090 graphics cards are pretty much non-existent in terms of stock. One retailer actually had zero RTX 5090s in stock as of last night.
Now, as MLID points out, it’s possible some RTX 5090 graphics cards could show up today, at the last minute – this has happened before with Nvidia (and was the case with Intel Battlemage apparently, with launch stock turning up on sales day) – but let’s face it, this is unlikely. And presumably it wouldn’t be many units, even if it did happen like this.
The picture with the RTX 5080 GPU sounds a little healthier, but sadly with the emphasis on 'little'. One of those big US retailers claims to have around 60 units of the 5080, which doesn’t seem so bad – though that compares to about 100 boards that were in stock for the RTX 4080 launch.
Another source echoes that rough estimation of half the RTX 5080 stock compared to the RTX 4080.
Broad comparisons are also drawn to Nvidia’s RTX 3000 launch, which was poor for quantities of stock due to the global chip shortage caused by the pandemic, of course.
So, it’s all pretty pessimistic stuff, and underlining this is a further tale of woe, a story picked up by Wccftech whereby a Japanese retailer is selling ‘lottery tickets’ for the chance to buy an RTX 5080 or 5090 on launch day.
Note that the prize is the opportunity to pay for an Nvidia GPU, not to win one for free. Those queued outside the store will be given a lottery ticket, and must hope they win in order to get to the till and buy an RTX 5090 or 5080.
Analysis: Severe skewing for supply and demand, with pricing as a further concern
With stories of folks already queuing up outside stores for their shot to buy an RTX 5090 at launch, or needing to enter a lottery to buy one as seen over in Japan, it seems like there’s an unsurprising demand among PC enthusiasts to own the best of the best GPUs (for outright performance, anyway).
Couple that with an apparently very low level of supply (certainly for the RTX 5090), and you have the perfect storm for a GPU demand/supply imbalance the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the pandemic and the RTX 3000 launch.
Obviously, we need to take all these rumors with some caution, as already noted, but there’s so much speculation along these lines that you have to pretty much accept there must be some truth to this. Further consider MSI admitting it won’t ship RTX 5090 models from its store until February 6 – you’ll only be able to pre-order later today, not purchase as such – and Nvidia itself conceding that “stock-outs may happen” in this initial launch period.
Another notable element from this MLID video includes, as you can see in the above screenshot, is one source talking about the pricing for RTX 5080 models being pitched mostly in the $1,100 to $1,300 range in the US (where the MSRP is $999). This backs up some pre-release pricing in early product listings that have already been aired suggesting that most RTX 5080 models won’t be at the MSRP, so you’re looking at paying a fair bit more than a grand (before stock shortages and scalpers worsen this situation, of course).
As for the RTX 5090, we’re told to expect pricing more in the range of $2,300 to $2,600 in the US, versus the $1,999 MSRP. So that looks even worse when premiums for fancy third-party boards are factored in.
On a final note, one of MLID’s sources makes a comment about not expecting a significant amount of RTX 5090 stock until March 2025. Now, that doesn’t apply to the RTX 5080, but it’s still a suggestion that supply will be slow to crank up after this initial launch period, and that makes me wonder whether this is something AMD caught wind of. Right around the time, or just before, Team Red announced that its RX 9070 models weren’t going on sale until March 2025 (later in Q1 than expected).
Maybe AMD got to thinking there’s no real need to rush RDNA 4, and that it can afford to take its time to fine-tune the GPUs (drivers and such) and better pitch pricing compared to the performance of Nvidia’s Blackwell graphics cards and their reception. Of course, RTX 5070 stock could be an entirely different matter when these models emerge in February, but there are already rumors that it won’t be great, and even that the vanilla RTX 5070 could be delayed until March (heap on the salt there, naturally).
If you are hoping to get one of Nvidia’s new Blackwell graphics cards when they launch later today, TechRadar has some resources to help. Check out our where to buy the RTX 5090 live blog, with recommendations on the best retailers to hit up, and we have a separate blog for the RTX 5080. By all accounts, you’ll need all the help you can get.
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