Nvidia Warns PC Gamers of RTX 5090, 5080 Stock Shortages Before Release

The much-anticipated launch of Nvidia's RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs is set for January 30, but concerns about potential shortages are already making waves. Eager buyers are camping outside stores in hopes of securing one of these highly sought-after graphics cards, despite their steep price tags of $1,999 for the RTX 5090 and $999 for the RTX 5080.

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

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 – Photos

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Retailers have echoed these concerns, particularly regarding the RTX 5090. Overclockers UK claimed it has received only "single digits at present," while last week it reported having just a "few hundred" RTX 5080 GPUs for the launch. U.S. retailer PowerGPU further fueled these worries by tweeting that "The launch of the RTX 5090 will be the worst when it comes to availability."

In response to the growing unease, Nvidia's Tim@Nvidia posted a statement on the company's official forum titled "GeForce RTX 50 Series Availability," which reads:

"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."

Amid these supply concerns, scalpers are already taking advantage of the situation. Listings for RTX 5090 GPUs have appeared on eBay as "pre-sale," with one showcasing an Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 available for an astonishing $5,750 from a collectibles reseller, marking an 187% increase over the card's original $1,999 MSRP.

Adding to Nvidia's challenges, the company's share price tumbled by 16.86% on Monday following the emergence of the Chinese AI model DeepSeek. This model, reportedly trained for just $6 million, poses a potential threat to Nvidia's datacenter GPU sales prospects, complicating the company's focus during this critical launch week.