- Nvidias RTX 5080 and 5090 Launch was just like the rumor mill forecast
- The warehouse was lightweight and sold out very quickly
- There were cows, an inevitable clumsy for the next gene gu’s and even chaotic scenes at a Japanese retailer
Nvidia’s RTX 5080 and 5090 graphics card sold out very quickly, just as rumors predicted, on the launch day yesterday – and there was a good deal of chaos and clinging around the release of these first Blackwell GPUs.
At the time of writing, the day after launch, everything remains sold out with the major US and British retailers I just took a scouting round, at least with regard to free graphics cards.
Even the seriously expensive third-party RTX 5080 models at the premium end of the spectrum sold out for a moment.
Yes, the only option to get a Blackwell GPU is currently buying a full PC with one of the boards in it, where you clearly pay a lot of money for an advanced machine with a big marking.
As for The Clamor, there were big lines in some retail stores in the United States, with people queuing up for their shots on an RTX 5090 days before launch. As Videocardz reports, there was some chaotic scenes in Japan where in a store called PC Koubou would be NVIDIA GPU buyers scaling the fence in a nursery next door (in an attempt to get in and buy a GPU , presumably).
It was one of the stores in Japan where a lottery system was implemented to try to make a Blackwell GPU for a fair process, but clearly it went wrong here.
All in all, there are accusations of NVIDIA that make RTX 5000 a ‘paper launch’, which means there was only a very small amount of fixtures available on the release day.
As Videocardz points out, the theorizing of Reddit – which we should be particularly careful – suggested was predicted to be vanishingly thin on the ground anyway and walk by the rumors, but the RTX 5080 was expected to achieve some better stock levels than this coarse number from Reddit suggests.
Analysis: Foot not scalpers
As mentioned, the only real shot you currently have getting a Blackwell GPU is buying a full PC, inevitably a very expensive premium model that will run you a few grandsons. You can in theory replace the RTX 5000 GPU with your own (that you upgrade from) and sell PC-used (like almost new), but it is potentially a lot of trouble and headaches so most people do not consider this option (it would I certainly do not).
The second choice, which in turn is not really any kind of choice is to buy an RTX 5090 or 5080 at an auction site from a scalper that has seriously set up the price. Don’t do this – don’t foot the price of prices no matter what you do please. It is interesting to see as eBay that there are many more reasonable prices Blackwell lists made just to catch bots, and clearly say they are only a photo of GPU in the description. (As well as those who try to sell their pre -orders on site, of course).
Just the usual chaos around the launch of a thin-on-earth new generation of GPUs, then. I would suggest now that you are just trying to be patient. (Don’t feed Scalpers, I already said it? Imagine the collective sweat that is going on if these lists do not change and they have to continue to fall and lose prices).
Keep your eyes peeled on our live blogs where Techradar still maintains a watch on all the major retailers – for RTX 5090 graphics cards, and also RTX 5080 GPUs – and we will warn you there if any stock comes back. But for now, the chances of buying an RTX 5090 or 5080 still seem very distant to put it mildly.
Of course, attention will soon turn to the launch of the RTX 5070 models next month and how stocks will shake out there. And after this, the players’ eyes will be attached to what AMD does with RDNA 4 in March. Since we know that some RX 9070 graphics cards are already at retailers, Team Red should have a much better next re-launch for stock levels than we witnessed with Nvidia yesterday.
