GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Launch Availability Could Leave Gamers Frustrated Again
In the oft-used words of every magician that's ever performed a disappearing act, 'Now you see it, now you don't!'. Only instead of a magic trick, that same line can be applied to the GeForce RTX 5090 and GeForce RTX 5080 retail launches, and rumor has it the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti retail debut will be no different. It raises the question, are we having fun yet?
To answer that, we'll go out on a limb and say anyone who's been trying to score a 5090 or 5080 at anywhere close to MSRP is certainly NOT having fun. Most of the cards are selling well above MSRP, though fortunately there are exceptions, such as the GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition model. The only problem is, it's rarely in stock. And when it is, bots and scalpers swoop in faster than you can say 'abracadabra'.
Inventory levels are woefully short of demand, and pricing in general is frustratingly higher than advertised at launch. It's not unusual for hardware partners to charge a premium for custom cards with factory overclocks, bolstered cooling solutions, and other perks. But whether because of tariffs, low availability, greed, or a combination of all three, the markups are higher this time around.
The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, in theory, has the potential to provide some relief. Whereas the GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 are supposed to be $1,999+ and $999+ GPUs, respectively, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti has a more palatable $749 baseline MSRP. That's $50 less than the launch day price of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti.
However, that only matters if (A) retailers and NVIDIA's hardware partners actually offer models at that price, and (B) if availability is sufficient to meet demand. In regards to the latter, Channel Gate (as spotted by Videocardz) claims we're looking at another limited availability launch.
"First batch source: Direct supply customers can only get a few pieces at most, 10-20 pieces at most, and the distribution volume is very small, which is insufficient for installation and Internet cafe market demand," the site states (via Google Translate).
If it's true that retailers are looking at only a dozen or so cards instead of hundreds (or more), then it's easy to see how the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti launch will be similar to the GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080. Inventory levels will obviously vary by retailer, but even so, the signs are there that another 50 series GPU is likely to vanish.
Just look at pricing on several early listings. Over at Micro Center, for example, we found exactly one custom model selling at MSRP (a PNY card listed at $750) while all the rest are listed at $899.99 to $1,099.99. And over at Best Buy, there are four listings (so far), all ASUS models, priced at $899.99, $939.99, $979.99, and $999.99.
Those price points indicate confidence on the part of add-in board (AIB) partners and retailers alike that these things are going to sell out quickly.
If there's a silver lining, it's that a reputable leaker (MEGAsizeGPU on X/Twitter) recently claimed that supply of the GeForce RTX 5090 will be "stupidly high soon," causing scalpers to "cry so hard." We'll believe it when we see it, but if true, it stands to reason that lower end SKUs will see bolstered availability in short order too. Or so we hope, anyway.
