Nvidia finally admits looming RTX 50-series GPU shortage — RTX 5090, RTX 5080 stockouts may happen

Nvidia finally admitted in the official forums (via VideoCardz) that gamers may have difficulty finding stock for the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, which compete with the best graphics cards.

“We expect significant demand for the GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 and believe stock-outs may happen,” Tim@Nvidia posted in Nvidia’s forums. “Nvidia & our partners are shipping more stock to retail every day to help get GPUs into the hands of gamers.”

PC retailers have been saying that the RTX 5090 supply is in dire straits. One UK reseller says inventory is below 10 units—a small number for such a powerful GPU that will likely face increased demand for its performance, especially in AI applications. We’ve even seen scalpers selling “rights” to the flagship GPU, offering it at a markup of three times the MSRP.

We already expected this with the RTX 5090, primarily as smaller companies working with AI tech are acquiring it for training their LLMs. We’ve even seen manufacturers like TinyBox AI offer accelerators powered by four RTX 4090s offered for $25,000. But disappointing is that the “stock out” will also include the RTX 5080, a more affordable GPU that many enthusiasts and hardcore gamers will likely choose for their builds in 2025.

The situation is similar to the Intel Arc B580, with demand outstripping supply in retailers despite receiving weekly restocks from Intel. Even today, one and a half months since the $249 GPU champion arrived, finding one on Amazon and Best Buy is still challenging.

So, if you want to be among the first to get an RTX 5090 or RTX 5080, you should line up at your nearest major PC retailer as soon as (or even before) it opens tomorrow, or else you might come home empty-handed, that is if it has a stock of these GPUs in the first place. Also, you should avoid buying GPUs from a scalper—it’s not worth paying over the MSRP to get your hands on a new GPU, especially if you’re just using it for games.