Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 Availability Concerns Surface

Two of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs go on sale at the end of the month, and rumblings about inflated prices and limited availability are already surfacing. At this point, Nvidia hasn't confirmed any issues with supply, so take these rumors with the usual grain of salt. In a perfect scenario, we'd see RTX 5090s and 5080s widely available for $1,999 and $999, respectively, on Jan. 30.

If retailers have enough cards on hand at the end of the month, chances are good that the cards will sell close to the MSRP. But according to Wccftech , reports are painting a picture of short supply. Dan Nystedt, an analyst and former journalist in Taiwan, wrote on X that the supply issues might not let up until the end of this quarter or Q2. Unless you're willing to pay more (likely much more) than MSRP to get your hands on an RTX 50 series card right away, you might have to wait until prices drop.

Credit: Dan Nystedt, X

Wccftech also points to a report by Benchlife that "there isn't much supply in the market, mainly due to some communication issues between Nvidia and AIB partners, as well as the Chinese New Year, which is expected to improve in February."

If card availability improves in February, then beyond-MSRP prices (if they happen at all) could ease up before the end of the quarter. That would be a relief to consumers.

Naturally, if RTX 5090 and 5080 availability don't meet demand, the next question will be whether the RTX 5070 Ti and 5070 will be appropriately stocked. There's reason to think that Nvidia will have sent more of the 70 Ti and 70 GPUs to AIBs—that reason is their position in Nvidia's lineup. With more gamers buying midrange cards than flagships, it makes sense that Nvidia would ensure the midrange GPUs are well stocked. That's not a concern at the moment, though. First, we'll see whether the flagship cards are widely available at launch.

By the way, reviews of the GeForce RTX 5090 will hit the internet on Friday , giving us a detailed look at how cards with Nvidia's flagship GPU perform. Nvidia set the review embargo release for Jan. 24 for the RTX 5090 while leaving the RTX 5080 review to appear when both cards go on sale at the end of the month. The good news is that the reviews will cover both the Nvidia Founders Edition cards and the third party AIBs.