Yesterday evening (GMT), Overclockers UK's product purchasing manager set expectations for his store's day one inventory of GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards. Taking to the OCUK forum, Gibbo (aka Andrew Gibson) revealed that the flagship stock count was in: "single digits at present, maybe double for launch." His "TDLR" also pointed to the store having a "few hundred" RTX 5080 models ready for launch day, with pre-orders starting on January 30 (for both Blackwell GPU product tiers). Gibbo warned potential customers about anticipated tight conditions: "we are expecting greater demand than (the RTX) 40 series, but with the launch just prior to CNY and lots of other rumors circulating initial waves of supply are poor and will probably take some time to build up. So the stock we have will be made available from the launch via the webshop, but I know what we have is likely to last only seconds, minutes at most."

Similar (predicted) circumstances have been reported across Europe and the Far East—certain outlets believe that GeForce RTX 50 series shortages will last up to three months post-launch. Potential "Blackwell" GPU customers are very likely dreading a forthcoming buying experience riddled with scalper bots, price gouging and all sorts of shady shenanigans. OCUK's product manager recommends taking a pragmatic approach when faced with a chaotic state of affairs: "to put it simply patience and expectations need to be realistic if the UK has—say 10,000 cards, and 500,000 people want one—well it is going to take time so plan ahead and also act like adults. I shall try and keep these forums updated with stock drops with heads up on the site etc. Do not call Sales or Customer service for any info or try to place orders, it shall be strictly via website only and all information will be posted on forums and on product display pages for the products as and when we have it."