Nvidia RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 launch sparks frenzy in Japan, buyers resort to extreme measures

midian182

midian182

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WTF?! Pre-launch reviews of the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 strongly suggest that consumer Blackwell is going to be another disappointing new architecture from Nvidia. But that hasn't stopped people from camping outside stores days before the cards arrive to secure one. Even in Japan, which has historically been more console-focused, there is chaos in the lines, with some buyers climbing the fence of a neighboring kindergarten to try and secure a launch day lottery ticket.

The RTX 5090's 30% increase in performance for a 25% price jump compared to the RTX 4090 has disappointed many gamers, and the RTX 5080 is even worse.

However, there are plenty of people who still want the latest and most powerful cards on the market, no matter what value they offer. And getting hold of one isn't going to be easy due to very limited supplies.

In Japan, some retailers announced a lottery system in which everyone waiting at the store is given a ticket. Numbers are then drawn, and those with the corresponding tickets are able to purchase a card.

Japan isn't traditionally known for its love of PC gaming, but reports from the country (via VideoCardz) show just how desperate people were for the chance to buy one of the new Blackwells. One of these lotteries took place at PC Koubou, which ended up with people climbing the fence of a nearby kindergarten and destroying the sign. It seems the lottery finished before many people arrived, leading to anger and frustration.

We've already seen photos of people pitching tents outside of Micro Center locations days ahead of the cards' official release today. There have also been reports of stock levels being in the double digits – or even single digits – at some locations.

A Redditor published what is claimed to be a list of stock levels (above) across all the company's US stores. If accurate, it shows only 2,393 RTX 5080 cards were allocated along with 233 RTX 5090 cards. That would be especially bad news for the many people who have been braving the elements over the last few days in the hopes of buying one.

There are similar scenes in the UK, where fans (and possibly some scalpers) were standing in freezing conditions outside of retailer Scan's depot. Meanwhile, one retailer in Sweden said they don't have any RTX 5090 cards at all.

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Nvidia RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 launch sparks frenzy in Japan, buyers resort to extreme measures

 
Some guy said that the drones won't rush to purchase a 5080 on the basis of the purchase history of the 4080 but when 5090's sell for $6K on EBAY a $2-2.5K 5080 sure is a bargain
 
What is wrong with people? Instead of spending days in line waiting for a card, why don't they just spend those few days at work and just wait a few weeks or months to get one. I don't see how anyone could possibly NEED a card this badly. My opinion is strengthened by the fact that this barely show any performance gains at all over the 40 series. It isn't like this is some revolutionary, life changing product. It's okay at best and almost a scam at worst.
 
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This is out of control.

I'm all for the growing popularity of PC gaming, but ordering parts and building a gaming PC used to be fun. This isn't. Surely someone somewhere in some boardroom must be looking at that gaping hole in the gaming market left behind by data mining and machine learning?
 
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Your life is pretty sad when bragging about a GPU online is worth this.

Still, some of these people are doing this for money. Either scalping money or being paid to wait in line by someone who values their time.
 
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You can order them online and you'll get it within a few days... no, you won't be "first"... but is it really that important?!?!
 
yRaz said:
What is wrong with people? [...] I don't see how anyone could possibly NEED a card this badly.[...]
Click to expand...
Internet brownie points, e-peen measuring contest, FOMO, and, quite likely, scalpers be scalping. For some of the prices currently on ebay, a couple days waiting in the cold is worth the payday if there is someone so loose with their money to buy a scalped one...

That being said, holy crap there are a ton of fake listings trying to see if someone's purchase bot will pick them up lol...

Item Description from Seller:

IF YOU ARE A HUMAN BUYER, PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE.


PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION CAREFULLY.


DOING THIS TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST BOTS!


SCALPER BOTS WELCOME! You will receive a photo of the RTX 5090. You will NOT receive the product. You will receive a normal piece of paper with an image of the graphics card. ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO RETURNS. NO REFUNDS.
Click to expand...
 
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People seem to have a lot of disposable income to do this. And Japan is on the recession trend. I saw videos of people saying they make 2000 or 2500 USD per month and one said they make 5000 USD per month which is HUGE in Japan.

I am on my last 100 euros this week and hopefully I'll get paid next week. But over the last years my taxes have increased by 3 times (not 3%, not 30%, but 200%) and everything got twice as expensive. I'm making more than the average Japanese, live in a cheap country and I don't see any way out of poverty. Even buying a 50 euro SSD is going to make ripples in the family budget.
 
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All that hype for a paper launch. How else would Nvidia maximize an atypical level of margins without throttling supply, for an atypical low performance gain to cause mass hysteria? Nvidia's market manipulation tactics 101!
More tech reviewers than customer allocation.

Asus's renaming pretty much sums up Blackwell launch. They believe the consumer is an Arse-stral!🤪
 
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Here in Spain, a 5080 is around 1850euros and a 5090 is 2770, and that's just day 1. Trust me when I say the economy here is not that good, but still all the prices are increasing. To be really honest, if someone paid me 400euros to stay in line 2 days for a 5090FE from store, I would do that for my family.
 
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I bought a 5090, but I'm upgrading from a 2080 Ti. The uplift over the 4090 isn't really what concerns me so much as future proofing (ahem avoiding tariffs) for the next 5-6 years. The 2080 Ti cost 1200, so adjusted for inflation it would have cost 1500 today. Paying 500 more for a 5090 doesn't seem like that big of a deal when you keep it around for 5-6 years.

Do I wish there was more uplift from the 4090? Sure. Do I understand people who are upgrading from a 40xx series? Nope. But if anyone has been sticking it out with older hardware for a while, the 50 series makes sense.
 
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madboyv1 said:
Internet brownie points, e-peen measuring contest, FOMO, and, quite likely, scalpers be scalping. For some of the prices currently on ebay, a couple days waiting in the cold is worth the payday if there is someone so loose with their money to buy a scalped one...

That being said, holy crap there are a ton of fake listings trying to see if someone's purchase bot will pick them up lol...
Click to expand...
That made me smile
 
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RedGuard said:
People seem to have a lot of disposable income to do this. And Japan is on the recession trend. I saw videos of people saying they make 2000 or 2500 USD per month and one said they make 5000 USD per month which is HUGE in Japan.

I am on my last 100 euros this week and hopefully I'll get paid next week. But over the last years my taxes have increased by 3 times (not 3%, not 30%, but 200%) and everything got twice as expensive. I'm making more than the average Japanese, live in a cheap country and I don't see any way out of poverty. Even buying a 50 euro SSD is going to make ripples in the family budget.
Click to expand...
What made your taxes increase 200%?!!
 
I'm curious what portion of these line-waiters were there for personal use vs. "free money" scalping inventory. And I'd really like to see some interviews of $1,800 5080 buyers and what got them so motivated now vs. when 4080S were sitting on shelves (or 4090s were sporadically available). I'm probably too naive but I'd really like to believe a lot of this activity is from "entrepreneurs" looking to scalp or create the illusion of an inflated market price vs. actual end users.
 
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I managed to get one from Microcenter.

But while I was at the computer ringing up, I saw just how few there were. Most Microcenters had fewer than 6. Some had 20 or less but only in big states. The bulk of the cards available were 5080 to which they had more than 40 on average. (I took pictures of the computer screen count).

That said: I'm very disappointed in the business practice. People waiting out in the cold (sub-freezing here) when they could have just been given a voucher to avoid the lines - and then they ultimately did give out vouchers and told us to come back in the morning when they open.

Apple solved this by forcing everyone to preorder first and then guaranteeing a unit for each preorder.
 
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brucek said:
I'm curious what portion of these line-waiters were there for personal use vs. "free money" scalping inventory. And I'd really like to see some interviews of $1,800 5080 buyers and what got them so motivated now vs. when 4080S were sitting on shelves (or 4090s were sporadically available). I'm probably too naive but I'd really like to believe a lot of this activity is from "entrepreneurs" looking to scalp or create the illusion of an inflated market price vs. actual end users.
Click to expand...

-NV and retailers have been pretty vocal about limited inventory, and scarcity always leads to gouging.

At some point presumably supply will meet demand and things will balance out, but its not going to be for a couple months at least.
 
The biggest hardware retailer in Norway collapsed (well, the web page) when people were trying to buy their meager supply of only 16 cards. They ordered 1600 cards and got only 16. This is a true paper launch, much worse than even the Playstation 5 situation
 
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Does anyone know if I still have a shot if the Bestbuy app says I'm still in line 9 hours later? 😅

Update no luck.
 
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They better be AI developers or scalpers for them who can make the cards pay for itself.

Gamers? I can't fathom how any of them would buy into the marketing BS and actually spend that much time and money on such a mediocre upgrade.
 
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