Nvidia is selling RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 graphics cards from a food truck at GTC

[midian182]

WTF?! It's almost impossible to find an RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 outside of auction sites right now, especially at MSRP – unless, that is, you happen to be an attendee at Nvidia's 2025 GPU Technology Conference, where they can be purchased for these prices from a food truck.

From 7AM to 12PM on Thursday and Friday (they were also sold on Wednesday), Nvidia is selling RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 cards at their $999 and $1,999 respective MSRPs from the Nvidia gear van at GTC park.

For obvious security reasons, the cards aren't all sitting in the van waiting to be handed out like hotdogs. Buyers must pick up their purchased cards from the South Hall main entrance the same day they're bought.

As Tom's Hardware notes, there are plenty of caveats with this deal, the biggest being that the cards will only be sold to holders of a conference pass ($1,145 for one day or $2,295 for five days) or an exhibit pass.

Moreover, there are only 2,000 cards up for grabs – 1,000 RTX 5080s and 1,000 RTX 5090s. Unsurprisingly, sales are limited to one card per person. The event is expected to attract some 25,000 attendees this year.

According to on an official X post, Nvidia is selling the cards in bursts: it writes in one that 90 units are available for the next 30 minutes.

🚨 GeForce RTX 5090s are available at the Gear Store in the park right now at #GTC25

90 units are available for the next 30 minutes, with more coming tomorrow. Come say hi! pic.twitter.com/oHdwMlp87r

– NVIDIA AI Developer (@NVIDIAAIDev) March 19, 2025

These cards will end up in the hands of the software developers attending the conference, rather than everyday consumers, of course. Finding one from a retailer is pretty much a pipe dream right now, though you could always pay $6,000 for an in-stock pre-built PC from Best Buy (MSI MEG Visions X AI Gaming Desktop) that packs an Intel Ultra 9 285K and an RTX 5090 – for the rock-bottom price of $6,000.

System builders such as PowerGPU have explained the high price of their Blackwell machines by highlighting how they are also paying a fortune for the RTX 5090/5080 cards. The fact Asus recently raised the prices of its RTX 5090 and AMD RX 9070 series has exacerbated the situation.

Elsewhere at GTC, Nvidia revealed its upcoming lineup of AI-accelerating GPUs, including Blackwell Ultra in 2025, Vera Rubin in 2026, Rubin Ultra in 2027, and Feynman in 2028.

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Nvidia is selling RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 graphics cards from a food truck at GTC

 

[Ashford]

Speaking with my wallet... by not having my wallet speak to them.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

25k people attend. We'll say 2/3 are for 5 days and 1/3 are for 1 day.
16500 pay $2295 for five day access; totals $37,867,500
8500 pay $1145 for one day access; totals $9,732,500
Total entry cost = $47.6mil

2000 cards:
1000 5080s @ $1000 each
1000 5090s @ $2000 each

All cards assumed to be sold:
5090s brings in $2,000,000
5080s brings in $1,000,000
Total $3mil

Assuming 1/3 are for 5 days and 2/3 are for 1 day....
8500 pay $2295 for five day access; totals $19,507,500
16500 pay $1145 for one day access; totals $18,862,500
Total entry cost = $38.4mil

This Nvidia convention will pull in $40mil+ just from the entry and GPU sales alone.

In theory the idea of getting one of these GPUs, if you're lucky enough, you're not only spending an entry fee but the cost of the card on top of it. You're getting scalped by Nvidia for one of their GPUs.

At best a 5080 only costs you $2145, at worst $3295.
At best a 5090 only costs you $3145, at worst $4295.
Maybe you're better off finding a scalped card on ebay for less.

 

[nnguy2]

I am surprised Jensen isn't standing at the entrance to an alley selling the cards out of his leather jacket.

 

[brucek]

This Nvidia convention will pull in $40mil+ just from the entry and GPU sales alone.

Sure but if you think this convention was created primarily to direct sell 2,000 units at MSRP you're crazy. They could've sold the same 2,000 units at higher than MSRP for virtually no effort other than shipping them to a board partner, without incurring any of the expenses of putting on a conference which is not cheap. This exercise is a loss compared to easily available alternatives.

The convention is for industry relations as always. Part of those relations is putting a few cards up for sale. They probably would have preferred not to do it - seeing as they held off even sales to employees - but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[NumberNine]

Even MSRP is not really worth it for these GPUs.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

25k people attend. We'll say 2/3 are for 5 days and 1/3 are for 1 day.
16500 pay $2295 for five day access; totals $37,867,500
8500 pay $1145 for one day access; totals $9,732,500
Total entry cost = $47.6mil
...
This Nvidia convention will pull in $40mil+ just from the entry and GPU sales alone.

In theory the idea of getting one of these GPUs, if you're lucky enough, you're not only spending an entry fee but the cost of the card on top of it. You're getting scalped by Nvidia for one of their GPUs.

At best a 5080 only costs you $2145, at worst $3295.
At best a 5090 only costs you $3145, at worst $4295.
Maybe you're better off finding a scalped card on ebay for less.

You forgot flights, ubers, and hotel costs for those not living near San Jose, CA.

Obviously, you wouldn't attended a conference to save $500 on 5080. It's just a conference perk, like the free pens and tote bag that everyone at every conference gets.

 

[amghwk]

This 5 series is the most disappointing release from Nvidia that it's not worth to get them even at MSRP.

Get a cheaper used 4090. It's not far from 5090 and still beats the 5080.

And with the money saved, it's more useful to see if 6090 will be a worthy purchase or not.

 

[Cocojambo13]

If someone told you years back, that in 2025 if you wanted to buy an enthusiast GPU card the price is $ 2000 (only from the manufacturer himself) they would call you crazy.

for the right reasons.

 

[ddferrari]

This 5 series is the most disappointing release from Nvidia that it's not worth to get them even at MSRP.

Get a cheaper used 4090. It's not far from 5090 and still beats the 5080.

And with the money saved, it's more useful to see if 6090 will be a worthy purchase or not.

Well I just checked ebay USA and the least expensive internal 4090 GPU is $2200 so not exactly cheap

 

[BogdanR]

Do I get a free order of fries and a Coke with that?

 

[acrossthestars]

25k people attend. We'll say 2/3 are for 5 days and 1/3 are for 1 day.
16500 pay $2295 for five day access; totals $37,867,500
8500 pay $1145 for one day access; totals $9,732,500
Total entry cost = $47.6mil

2000 cards:
1000 5080s @ $1000 each
1000 5090s @ $2000 each

All cards assumed to be sold:
5090s brings in $2,000,000
5080s brings in $1,000,000
Total $3mil

Assuming 1/3 are for 5 days and 2/3 are for 1 day....
8500 pay $2295 for five day access; totals $19,507,500
16500 pay $1145 for one day access; totals $18,862,500
Total entry cost = $38.4mil

This Nvidia convention will pull in $40mil+ just from the entry and GPU sales alone.

In theory the idea of getting one of these GPUs, if you're lucky enough, you're not only spending an entry fee but the cost of the card on top of it. You're getting scalped by Nvidia for one of their GPUs.

At best a 5080 only costs you $2145, at worst $3295.
At best a 5090 only costs you $3145, at worst $4295.
Maybe you're better off finding a scalped card on ebay for less.

"These cards will end up in the hands of the software developers attending the conference, rather than everyday consumers, of course."

Which means buying one of these cards counts as a "business expense", and therefore, doesn't really count as a "purchase". A purchase implies discretionary income, separate from enterprise. But, also, this isn't "news" news. It's specifically about game developers and games journalists. It has nothing to do with the fact that stock, for ordinary people, is unavailable.

I mean, based on the framing, if you don't know that GTC stands for "GPU Technology Conference" or read the rest of the article, you'd think that this random food truck is selling high-end Nvidia GPUs to gamers on the side of the road. This whole situation is as strange and unorthodox, as the reasoning behind it.

 

[Megalomaniac]

Imagine if a delivery truck came to you rather than you having to stand out in the cold in a line?

Progress!

 

[amghwk]

Well I just checked ebay USA and the least expensive internal 4090 GPU is $2200 so not exactly cheap

Used ones?