If you were hoping to get your hands on Nvidia’s shiny new RTX 5080 or 5090 graphics cards that were launched last week, you’re out of luck. Both GPUs sold out across the U.S. in less than an hour after they went on sale, leaving retailers empty-handed. It all happened so fast that people are calling it a “paper launch,” wondering if Nvidia even had enough cards to sell in the first place.
One major US system integrator had just one RTX 5090 on launch day
Honestly, we probably should have seen this coming. Before the launch, Nvidia’s head of GeForce community, Tim Adams, warned everyone that the RTX 5080 (Geekbench) and 5090 (3D Mark) would be in high demand and tough to find. But “tough to find” turned into “impossible to find” in no time. Newegg (Electronics Store) said it sold out “within minutes” and called the response “overwhelming.”
Meanwhile, PC hardware YouTuber Gamers Nexus reported that one major US system integrator had just one RTX 5090 on launch day, with a small shipment arriving later. Another company sold out of its 20 cards in three minutes—all through pre-built PCs. Yikes.
Now, retailers are scrambling to restock. Micro Center has a banner on its website telling customers to check back for updates, and U.K. retailer Overclockers UK says it could take two to six weeks for the RTX 5080 and three to 16 weeks for the RTX 5090 to come back in stock. Even the lucky few who managed to snag an RTX 5090 at Best Buy are facing delays. One Reddit user revealed they won’t get theirs until February 21. So, yeah, it’s going to be a while before these cards are easy to find.
According to the January 2025 Steam hardware survey, most people are still rocking RTX 3060s—a GPU that’s two generations old. Sure, current games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard still run fine on older cards, but upcoming titles like Avowed and Monster Hunter: Wilds are starting to recommend 40-series GPUs for features like ray tracing. For a lot of people, this launch felt like the perfect chance to finally upgrade after years of dealing with shortages and sky-high prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, well, here we are again.
The prices have also skyrocketed amid production delays, where the RTX 5090 was previously reported to hit a $6000 price tag.
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(Via)
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