I have been dealing with gaming hardware for 15 years. In all the time, it has almost never happened that a large manufacturer of Nvidia's caliber warned shortly before the release of new products that they will be sold out quickly.
Usually, manufacturers keep themselves very covered when it comes to the availability of their products. That Nvidia is the Blackwell generation, which will be published on January 30thbut is anything but surprising.
- On the one handIt almost had to happen, also because the rumors about poor availability of the RTX 5000 graphics cards recently accumulated so much that Nvidia was forced to go into it (if only very short).
- on the other handI am also annoyed without a surprise effect about the expected overall situation, and not only with regard to the particularly fast RTX 5090, which will probably be most affected by the problems (see also the info box below).
RTX 5000 Availability: How bad is it a release?
I am currently assuming that most stocks will be sold out after a few minutes at the latest. Nvidia's own statement on this inGeforce-Forumis not so clear:
»We expect great demand for the Geforce RTX 5090 and 5080 and believe that delivery can occur.«
But feedback that I get from Nvidia's board partners and dealers make it clear that once again, very poor availability is to be expected-at least for weeks. One of my sources that does not want to be named exactly describes it:
»The availability of the new graphics cards for the launch is expected to not be sufficient to cover the expected high demand on the market.
This will be clearly noticeable, especially in the first few weeks after the market launch, especially with the RTX 5090. Here we expect a particularly strong discrepancy between supply and demand. Even with the RTX 5080, from which we will have significantly larger quantities at the start, the availability will not be sufficient to fully operate demand.
I also expect a similar situation to the RTX 5070 Ti and later with the RTX 5070. The specific figures on the initial availability of these models are currently not yet available, but the previous forecasts suggest that the initial stocks are also tight here could.
In summary, the situation remains tense, especially in the first weeks after the market launch of all RTX 50 models.«
Can AMD be an alternative?Only to a limited extent, since the RX-9000 generation only appears in March and on the other hand it will not reach the performance region of an RTX 5090. In addition, there are very few manufacturers worldwide that can produce the chips for AMD, Apple, Nvidia & Co., so that AMD could also struggle with low stocks.
Why it had to come like that
In the end, NVIDIA is exactly like the Gamestar owner Webedia and as with any other employer: it's about business.
- As is known, Nvidia has long since earned the most or less or less chips on far the money with the sale of professional cards or AI accelerators, and these cards are more or less.
- No wonder that Nvidia's highest priority is not to meet the need for new gaming graphics cards for the release, but to sell as many AI accelerators as possible. Whether cases like the surprising appearance of theChange something in the long term, however, remains to be seen.
- In the case of the RTX-5000 publication, the earthquakes in Taiwan and the approximately two-week standstill of the factories in China are added due to the New Year's celebrations. Ultimately, the difficult delivery situation would surely survive one way or another.
If you still want to see how the new flagship RTX 5090 looks unpacked, our GPU tester Alexander Köpf shows you in the following video:
Why does Nvidia still make gaming graphics cards?
From an entrepreneurial point of view, it is usually a good idea to generate income from several sources (someone has againsaid?). Nvidia also knows and dominates the gaming market like no other, also thanks to structures and partnerships built over for decades. Last but not least, chips can be made of money that are not suitable for use on the most expensive AI cards.
What annoys me about it
Even if it is completely clear to me that there are many different (and certainly good or profitable) reasons for this to publish the RTX 5000 graphics cards exactly at the time and in the way it happens, it feels just not really on.
- According to RTX 3000 and RTX 4000, the third generation of Nvidia in a row awaits us, in which a lot of interested buyers will look into the tube for the release. Unless you are ready to pay extremely high prices for scalpers.
- Personally, I would rather wait a year for new GPUs and then buy them reliably to the RRP, instead of having to get around with sold-out tickets and outrageous scalper prices.
- To make matters worse, that the RTX-4000 generation will probably no longer be available as a cheaper alternative because it.
Of course, I don't buy one of the new GPUs from any scalper. But the offers will still be available and the graphics cards will definitely sell well.
So the course of things is and there are unfortunately good reasons to assume that it will not look different with future GPU releases.
But even if all my wailing cannot change the situation, sometimes you just have to breathe some of your anger.
If the exception becomes the rule
I can understand if you say now:That was absolutely predictable why?
In my opinion, you also have to take into account the different signs of the last generation of GeForce.
- RTX 3000Or the RTX 3080 was eagerly awaited by most after the rather disappointing RTX 2000 generation, both because of the performance and with a view to the prize that was initially announced. At the same time, the extent of the effects of corona pandemic and the boom of cryptocurrencies on the actual acquisition costs and the availability was only predictable.
- RTX 4000appeared at a time when the GPU market had largely calmed down after over two years of poor availability and very high prices and the pandemic tended to end. In addition, the AI boom was still in its initial phase, so that you could definitely have hope for better availability for the release ().
- RTX 5000Now comes at a time when Nvidia has long been in full AI focus and, as mentioned, is expected to be the third generation of GeForce in a row, which will be poorly available and very expensive for the release. And as the saying goes: once is not once, twice is accidental and three times a rule.
A weak consolation and little hope
In the end, with a view to the RRP of the new GPUs, it is probably similar to the new multi-frame generation or MfG (you will find out more about the technical details from the following link).
Just as an exemplary number of 150 FPS with MFG brings me little, if the corresponding game fails, a RRP of 1,169 euros brings me little if I have to pay several hundred euros to get one of the new graphics cards reliably.
Admittedly, I have not yet tried MfG myself and with a view to prices, I can still get better than I am currently afraid. I honestly don't have great hopes.
So for the time being, I only have the certain consolation that we are still stillonly
Talking about gaming graphics cards, especially since they are outdated much more slowly than was the case in the past.
And who knows, maybe at some point there will be a GPU generation, in which the new cards are well available for the release and for your RRP-but please do not only use retailers in the middle four-digit or five-digit range.
