Nvidia’s RTX 5090 branded a “paper launch” after major stock shortages

Nvidia warned of stock shortages earlier this week, and now its launch of the $1,999 RTX 5090 yesterday is being branded a “paper launch” after people camped outside retailers only to find a handful of cards available, if any at all.

Reddit users have been tracking inventory for RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 cards at Micro Center locations across the US, with some stores opening on Thursday with no RTX 5090 cards at all. The Tustin, California Micro Center store seems to have received the most stock, but other stores reportedly had 10 or less RTX 5090 cards. While Nvidia’s RTX 5080 was a little easier to purchase on launch day, cards rapidly went out of stock at retailers like Best Buy and Amazon.

One Reddit poster claims to have secured an RTX 5090 after three days waiting in line, and others have posted purchase vouchers that were handed out to people in line at a Miami Micro Center. The overwhelming amount of posts are from people complaining about the launch and lack of stock, though.

Gamers Nexus claims that one of the biggest system integrators in the US only received a single RTX 5090 on launch day, before a smaller shipment arrived later in the day. Another big system builder reportedly received no units and third one received 20 RTX 5090s that it sold in pre-built machines in a matter of minutes.

Many retailers are now simply listing preorders for RTX 5090 cards, with Scan in the UK warning that some cards aren’t due in stock until the end of May — four months after the launch date. Naturally, such low stock levels in the face of high demand means there are scalpers selling RTX 5090 cards on eBay for $5,000 or more. YouTuber JayzTwoCents even found an RTX 5090 on sale for $5,800 on Facebook, after he signed the card at the Tustin Micro Center store earlier in the day.

We reached out to Nvidia to comment on the RTX 5090 launch issues, but the company refused to comment beyond its previous warning about stock shortages.