People are already camping to get their hands on a day-1 RTX 5090

How far would you go to ensure you get an RTX 5090 on day-1?

What would you do to get the fastest graphics card in the world? How far would you go to make sure that you are first in line to get the latest and greatest hardware for your PC? At Microcenter’s Tustin site in California, gamers have already been found camping to secure their place in line when Nvidia launches its RTX 5090 graphics card. Camping started on January 27th, and the GPU will become available on January 30th.

Retail stock for Nvidia’s RTX 5090 is expected to be tight on day 1. Overclockers UK confirmed last week that they only had “single digits” stock for Nvidia’s RTX 5090. This should explain why some people are willing to wait for days to secure some of this limited retail stock.

Over on the Microcenter subreddit, the person camping in the “second tent” confirmed that they were buying the GPU for their “own use”. This user did not want to pay extra money for a gaming card and has decided to do what they can to ensure they get an early GPU. However, there are fears that early RTX 50 series GPUs will be bought by scalpers. Those are buyers who are purchasing GPUs with the intent of reselling them at a higher price. However, it should be noted that most retailers have anti-scalper mechanisms in place to minimise this issue.

Hello everyone, I’m the guy that you guys are talking about in the second tent. And yes, we are buying it for our own use, no trades and no sells. We just don’t want to pay for that extra $ for a gaming card and yes we do have some times on our hands because we run a business. Good luck to everyone who are trying to get one.

hellodavidz – Reddit

Why go camping for a day 1 GPU?

At Microcenter, GPU purchases will be on a first-come-first-serve basis using a voucher system. Note that buyers who line up will not be able to choose the specific GPU model that they are purchasing. Vouchers only guarantee that they will be able to purchase a GPU. Only one GPU will be sold to each customer.

Simply put, camping outside of a retailer may be the only way to guarantee access to an RTX 50 series GPU on day 1. If supply is limited, online stock will likely disappear in minutes. If that is the case, retail camping may be your only option.

In the UK, Scan has confirmed that they will be having an in-store launch event for Nvidia’s RTX 50 series. Scan will be dedicating some GPUs to this event and will be giving away a “Limited Edition launch hoodie + merch” to the first 100 in their queue. Note that this is Nvidia’s only “official” UK launch event for their RTX 50 series.

Would you brave the cold for a day 1 GPU? You can join the discussion on gamers already camping for early RTX 50 series graphics cards on the OC3D Forums.

Mark Campbell

Mark Campbell

A Northern Irish father, husband, and techie that works to turn tea and coffee into articles when he isn’t painting his extensive minis collection or using things to make other things.

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