The day has lastly arrived: The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 are actually accessible for buy…I do know, I make it sound so simple. We’ve identified for some time now that launch day provides will probably be extraordinarily restricted, and so retailers have tried to handle expectations accordingly. Unfortunately, even the best-laid plans steadily do not survive contact with most people.
As is just not unusual for in-demand {hardware} launches, Japanese {hardware} chain PC Koubou tried to deploy a lottery system to handle demand for the 50-series playing cards and discourage scalping. However, a lot of areas are rethinking this technique after chaos erupted on the Akihabara retailer throughout an earlier lottery (by way of Videocardz).
At about 15:00 native time on January 30, a raucous line crowded the Chiyoda metropolis location and close by streets, with clients queuing within the hopes of even getting an opportunity to purchase one of many new 50-series playing cards. People had been additionally allegedly seen climbing the fence of a close-by elementary faculty, defacing the institution’s signal within the course of.
According to a now-deleted publish on X, the Nagoya Osu location had initially deliberate to enter clients current in-store at 10:20 AM on January 31 right into a lottery draw for the possibility to purchase one of many vanishingly few graphics playing cards (additionally by way of Videocardz). More current posts from the Nagoya Osu retailer in addition to the Osaka Nihonbashi location have introduced a change of plans, as an alternative shifting lottery functions on-line.
Most apparently although, these statements reveal simply how few of the 50-series playing cards could be in inventory. For these hoping to purchase a card from PC Koubou, there will be 15 items of the 5090 and 113 items of the 5080 graphics card accessible to buy for purchasers chosen by way of the web lottery.
パソコン工房パーツ館でRTX5090の抽選の呼びかけが始まりましたが、現場は大混乱しております。怒号が飛び交い、あろうことか隣の幼稚園の柵に登る人まで出る始末。#RTX5090 pic.twitter.com/BIPOLdXaysJanuary 30, 2025
These numbers are consistent with what retailers throughout the globe have been claiming within the run-up to the launch. For occasion, Overclockers UK stated they’d a ‘single digit’ quantity of 5090 playing cards every week earlier than launch, and MSI extra just lately said they’d acquired a small variety of GPUs straight from Nvidia.
This restricted provide has in flip seen an increase in of us tenting outdoors of Micro Center shops throughout the US, and loads of chancing scalpers trying to promote playing cards they don’t have for as a lot as $7,000. The hope is that provide points will ease as we get additional into February and past, although by that point US-based PC avid gamers could also be staring down a tariff that makes selecting up a brand new 50-series card particularly pricey.
None of the above represents particularly good odds in case you’re nonetheless hoping to select up a 5090 or 5080 card within the very close to future. If you’d wish to take a tour of the stockists—and an assorted roster of ‘offered out’ indicators—you possibly can take a look at our curated lists of 5090 and 5080 sellers within the US and UK.
