- Nvidia’s initial Blackwell GPUs are rumored to have ‘extremely limited’ stock
- It’s claimed that the RTX 5090 will be particularly thin on the ground
- This is the case for the German market, but it could well reflect the wider picture
We’ve heard our first rumblings that Nvidia’s initial next-gen GPUs, the RTX 5080 and 5090, due at the end of January, will be thin on the ground for stock levels.
VideoCardz flagged up a post from a moderator (Pokerclock) claiming this, on the forums for German site PC Games Hardware. And yes, if your rumor-sense is tingling at this point, you’re quite correct – this needs to be regarded with a robust amount of skepticism.
So, armed with that caution – and also the knowledge that this is all translated from German, so some accuracy may be lost in that process – the broad assertion is that stock levels for these first Blackwell GPUs will be ‘extremely limited’ and this will be particularly the case for the RTX 5090.
That’s according to ‘well-informed’ insiders in the trade, but the good news, at least as far as PC gamers go, is that B2B and wholesalers – those selling to businesses – aren’t getting much Blackwell stock at all (if any, if this rumor is right).
The majority of GeForce graphics cards going to gamers, then, is a positive element here, albeit this is just how it should be. These are gaming GPUs after all, they are not supposed to be drafted into AI work and the like (but they invariably are).
Pokerclock predicts that you’ll need a lot of luck to get your RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 on launch day, and that there’ll likely be queue systems at retailers for those purchasing, meaning the usual GPU scramble amidst scalpers and bots. Sigh…
Analysis: Say it ain’t so… your stock is a heartbreaker
Bear in mind this is a forecast for the German market, where the big retailers like Mindfactory are expected to secure the lion’s share of RTX 5090 and 5080 stock. Even if Pokerclock is correct in their claims, this may not apply to other regions.
However, Germany is a large European market, and if there’s creakiness here regarding supply, it’s not an unreasonable expectation that there will be elsewhere. Okay, perhaps the US might fare better in this potential future of scarce Blackwell stock, but American gamers are going to have their own troubles – in terms of the rush to buy before Trump’s tariffs kick in and spike pricing upwards. (Not just for the best graphics cards, either, which Nvidia, and indeed AMD, are surely going to have new candidates for).
There’s already an expectation that next-gen GPUs could be thin on the ground, and difficult to buy, in the early days of Blackwell (and maybe AMD RDNA 4 too, who knows). This isn’t exactly uncommon when it comes to new hardware launches, and PC enthusiasts are always prepared for a potentially frustrating hunt for available stock, and instances of just missing out, then seeing the inevitable appearance of new GPUs on auction sites laden with infuriatingly eye-watering price tags.
If you can be patient, these wrinkles will all come out in the wash eventually, but as noted, those in the US face a very different kind of pressure this time around to buy quick before the hefty price inflation that’s on the horizon for electronic goods kicks in.
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