Nvidia RTX 5090 ‘lottery’ reportedly ends in screams and chaos

Nvidia is launching its RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 graphics cards today — read our RTX 5090 review and RTX 5080 review — and the anticipation is clear. In Japan, multiple stores held a lottery to give attendees an equal chance at scoring one of Nvidia’s best graphics cards, but the event ended in chaos, with screaming and the destruction of a sign at a kindergarten, according to VideoCardz.

The report of chaos came via X, where a user shared that “angry shouts were heard” as customers began lining up, and that “some people even climbed over the fence of the kindergarten next door.”

パソコン工房パーツ館でRTX5090の抽選の呼びかけが始まりましたが、現場は大混乱しております。
怒号が飛び交い、あろうことか隣の幼稚園の柵に登る人まで出る始末。#RTX5090 pic.twitter.com/BIPOLdXays

— 立山登 (@sarasteam0151) January 30, 2025

There’s a lot of anticipation around any big graphics card launch, but the release of Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs has hit a fever pitch. On Monday, days before the release date of Nvidia’s latest GPUs, customers began camping out at Micro Center locations across the U.S. In Westmont, IL, one user claims that nearly 60 people were in line as of 6pm PT Wednesday, and there was a police presence. Another user says more than 50 people were waiting outside of a Micro Center in Kansas, which reportedly only had four RTX 5090 models available.

Westmont microcenter
byu/yoyosh12 innvidia

We’ve rounded up a list of locations where you can buy the RTX 5090 today, including listings for all major online retailers. You might struggle to get one, though. Most retailers reportedly only have single-digit stock of the RTX 5090, and on eBay, listings as expensive as $6,100 have already sold.

As if that weren’t enough, the prices of Nvidia’s new GPUs are quite high. Nvidia set the list price of the RTX 5090 at $2,000 and the RTX 5080 at $1,000, but board partner models are significantly more expensive. Early listings for the RTX 5080 showed multiple models listed at $1,300 directly from Best Buy.

Unfortunately, prices aren’t likely to drop soon. Nvidia has slowly phased out its last-gen options like the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 Super, and you’ll struggle to find either of those cards anywhere near list price. In the previous generation, we never saw Nvidia’s flagships fall below list price, even months after they were released and inventory stabilized. We may see a repeat of that situation here.

If you’re among the unlucky many who aren’t able to score an RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 today, make sure to check out our roundup of RTX 5080 alternatives that you can pick up now.