MSI's GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs Slightly Delayed In US Store, When Preorders Will Ship
NVIDIA's new flagship graphics card, the GeForce RTX 5090, is scheduled for a retail debut on Thursday, January 30 (which is tomorrow, at the time of this writing). Same goes for the GeForce RTX 5080. However, the retail release comes amid multiple shortage warnings, including a new one that MSI shared on its Discord channel in the US.
It's the second public announcement from MSI regarding a shortage of GeForce RTX 50 series stock, the previous one coming from MSI China. It also follows a heads-up direct from NVIDIA, which posted a message on its community forum earlier this week saying it anticipates "significant demand" for the top two SKUs, and warns that "stocks-outs may happen."
When the cards release to retail, MSI will begin accepting preorders at its US store, but not all cards will ship out right away.
"Update for 5090 on MSI US Store directly: We are going to allow 5090 Pre-Orders on 1/30 6AM PST with a ship date of 2/6. 🎉
RTX 5080 will be available to purchase on 1/30 6AM PST: Ship date ASAP 1/30
RTX 5090 will be available for pre-order on 1/30 6AM PST: Ship date 2/6," MSI states on its Discord channel.
Credit to the folks at Videocardz for spotting the update, which affects several custom GeForce RTX 5090 models but not the GeForce RTX 5080. They include the following...
- GeForce RTX 5090 32G Suprim Liquid SOC (see our review)
- GeForce RTX 5090 32G Suprim OC
- GeForce RTX 5090 Vanguard SOC Launch Edition
- GeForce RTX 5090 Vanguard SOC
- GeForce RTX 5090 32G Gaming Trio OC
- GeForce RTX 5090 32G Ventus 3X OC
Fortunately, it's not much of a delay (just one week), hence why MSI added a celebratory emoji to its announcement. However, it remains to be seen how quickly MSI's inventory sells out once preorders open up. NVIDIA wasn't kidding when it said demand for the GeForce RTX 5090 is expected to be significant—several. gamers (and probably scalpers) are currently camping out in tents outside of at least one Micro Center location in the US.
There's also a barrage of GeForce RTX 5090 presale listings on eBay at highly inflated prices—up to around $7,000 currently (we've seen even higher ones earlier this week).
As for MSI's own branded cards, a rep in the Discord thread clarified that the delay is only for its own US store, adding that he "can't confirm other retailers." In other words, it's entirely possible that places like Amazon, B&H Photo, Newegg, and other retailers will have availability of MSI-branded GeForce RTX 5090 cards on January 30. Of course, it's also entirely possible that they won't.
