Nvidia Warns of RTX 5090, 5080 Stock Shortage Before Release

The highly anticipated launch of Nvidia's RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 graphics cards is set for January 30, yet reports from various retailers and brands suggest that there might be significant shortages of these high-end GPUs at launch. Eager consumers have already been seen camping outside stores in hopes of securing one of these sought-after GPUs, which are priced at $1,999 for the RTX 5090 and $999 for the RTX 5080.

According to MSI, as reported by WCCFTech, the initial supply of these GPUs will be limited due to the Lunar New Year, known also as Chinese New Year. This holiday is expected to impact the first wave of GPU shipments, with stock levels anticipated to stabilize by February and beyond.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 – Photos

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Specific concerns about the RTX 5090's availability have been raised by retailers. Overclockers UK claims to have received only "single digits" of the RTX 5090 at present, while last week it had just a "few hundred" RTX 5080 units for the launch. This issue was echoed by U.S. retailer PowerGPU, which tweeted, "The launch of the RTX 5090 will be the worst when it comes to availability."

In response to growing concerns about stock, Nvidia's representative Tim@Nvidia posted a statement on the company's official forum titled "GeForce RTX 50 Series Availability," which stated:

"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."

As fears of limited stock escalate, scalpers are poised to capitalize on the situation. Listings for RTX 5090 GPUs have already appeared on eBay as "pre-sale," with one showcasing an Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 available from a collectibles reseller at a staggering $5,750, which represents a 187% increase over its original $1,999 MSRP.

Amid the GPU launch, Nvidia faces another challenge this week. The company's share price tumbled by 16.86% on Monday following the emergence of the Chinese AI model DeepSeek, which claims to have been trained for just $6 million, potentially threatening Nvidia's datacenter GPU sales prospects.