One retailer shows how bleak the outlook is for getting an RTX 5090 this side of the summer

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If you didn't get a new RTX 50 series graphics card yet, maybe give up, spend the money on a vacation or something.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card showing fans
The closest most of us will get to an RTX 5090 anytime soon is this picture. (Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)

January 2025 was like PC nerd Christmas. Or it was supposed to be. But then NVIDIA launched the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, and it all went horribly wrong. It won't be getting better anytime soon, either, at least not if the words of one of the UK's top retailers for this type of product are anything to go by.

Online stock for the two graphics cards went almost instantly. There were tragically hilarious reports from folks lining up at physical stores to be met with signs saying there were only FOUR RTX 5090s in stock.

Now, Overclockers UK (via Tom's Hardware) has delivered the bleak news.

The short version is that it could be as long as 16 weeks before RTX 5090 stock is replenished, and up to 6 weeks for the RTX 5080. Pre-orders already placed but not fulfilled are now in a queue, and no further pre-orders will be taken until existing ones have been fulfilled and there is better clarity on availability of these things.

Granted, 3–16 weeks is a big window, but besides the potential bleakness, it also shows how incredibly uncertain the whole situation is. This launch has been nothing but a disaster, and I have to question why NVIDIA went through with it at all?

The RTX 5080 situation isn't as bad, but it's still not great. (Image credit: Windows Central | Ben Wilson)

Who benefits? NVIDIA hasn't made many of these GPUs so it's not like Jensen Huang will be doing his best Scrooge McDuck impersonation. Is it that old friend "being first" or just plain arrogance and disregard for the consumers?

It's disgraceful, really, that crypto mining scalpers are no longer our enemy, and still it's so atrocious. Competitor, AMD, has a golden opportunity to capitalize, but, alas, the latest Radeons are nowhere to be seen, either.

My advice? Give up. At least for the immediate future. We'll be doing our best to inform on where and when you can buy, but until the stock issues are properly sorted, is it really worth the effort and the frustration?

Richard Devine
Richard Devine
Managing Editor - Tech, Reviews

Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social/@richdevine

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • GraniteStateColin
    Is there any clarity on what's driving the production constraints? Did Nvidia expect the high price of the 5090 would yield a much lower demand than they're seeing? Is it intentional by Nvidia to create a false scarcity? Is demand higher than expected (the problem during the crypto GPU scarcity)? Are there needed supply inputs that are not available, making it impossible for Nvidia to build as many as they want? Unless this is a marketing tactic to create news around high demand for the already pricey 5090, it's obviously not in Nvidia's interest to not have product to sell to people who want to give them money.

    Ironically, if the tight supply was predictable for the top of the line 5090, Nvidia should have charged more than the already high $1999 -- pricing should be set to what the market wants to pay for the available volume. Higher volume would yield a lower price per card (still more total dollars to Nvidia, but lower per-unit profit). If there is room for scalpers to buy and resell at a higher price, that's a definitive sign the manufacturer price is too low. All it means is that scalpers are earning that money instead of Nvidia.

    I don't like it, but I understand why scalping works for show tickets -- there is a hard limit to how many seats are available in a venue and the performer doesn't want to set crazy high prices because it makes them look bad for charging their loyal fans too much. But there is no equivalent in tech -- unlimited supply in the long run and if they have a high-end line and lower end options, there's no real backlash against the manufacturer for charging a lot at the top end.

    To be fair, at the shorter end of the wait, 3 weeks, that's a pretty reasonable lag for a new product.

    Question for people who follow this closely, why don't retailers just offer wait lists (or do some)? I don't understand the sales model where scalpers or whoever is fast enough to grab a card the moment they're released effectively gets priority on the cards. Why don't they just have a list for hot items, give customers 1 day (or some other short but reasonable time) to confirm order when stock is available, and just work their way down the list. This seems like such a trivially simple problem to solve, and yet I don't see anyone doing this. I myself have paid extra to a scalper to get hot tech. I did not like that. I would have happily waited a few more weeks if I had known my spot in line was secured.
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