NVIDIA Revives Verified Priority Access System, Starting with GeForce RTX 5090 & 5080 FE Editions

[T0@st]

Three weeks after the launch of its GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 "Blackwell" GPUs, NVIDIA has introduced a "Verified Priority Access" scheme for North American customers. Approximately eighteen hours ago, the Tim@NVIDIA account posted an announcement on the company's official GeForce discussion forum: "we know it's challenging to purchase a GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics card...It will give a limited number of verified GeForce gamers & creators in the United States the opportunity to purchase one GeForce RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics card from the NVIDIA Marketplace." Team Green graphics card enthusiasts have experienced less than ideal buying conditions since the end of January (2025)—Jensen & Co. have likely absorbed a massive dose of feedback and reacting accordingly, but many pundits will question the relatively late rollout of an anti-scalping system.

A previous iteration of NVIDIA's "Verified Priority Access" program was tested soon after the launch of GeForce RTX 40-series "Ada Lovelace" GPUs. Founders Edition cards are (normally) offered at baseline MSRP, but scalpers have swiftly depleted initial stock allocations. Team Green's revived program presents some strict conditions: "users who have an NVIDIA Account created on or before January 30th, 2025 at 6AM Pacific Time can submit their interest for Verified Priority Access through this form. If selected, users will be notified at the email address of the NVIDIA account they enrolled with. Invites will begin rolling out next week." The Team Green staffer stated that the scheme is—"at this time"—limited to GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 Founders Edition cards. It should be noted that the just launched GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU will not arrive in Founders Edition form; potential buyers will have to navigate a jagged landscape of AIB custom designs.



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[R0H1T]

Create artificial scarcity, make huge profits ~ rinse/repeat ad nauseam

Spoiler

 

[N/A]

The 1 month old account is too fresh. Plus it will end up on eBay again because most people love free money more than video cards.

 

[Dragokar]

Also, US only.

 

[Visible Noise]

Create artificial scarcity, make huge profits ~ rinse/repeat ad nauseam

Except these are selling at MSRP. But knee jerk away, it’s fun to watch!

 

[Space Lynx]

if the cooler was halfway decent it might be alright, but 77 celsius on the core in gaming, not even the hotspot... on that 5090 in tpu review from what i remember. yikes no ty. that's just too hot for me. my 7900 xt xfx merc core only hits 52 core when gaming, like 74 hotspot. its a beast of a cooler though, but i prefer giant cooler personally.

 

[Beermotor]

Nvidia want to recreate those halcyon days of the 2017 and 2020 shortages again. /s

In all seriousness this is exactly what vendors were doing back in 2020-21. Once the crypto bust happened magically there were warehouses full of brand new 30-series cards.

 

[Franzen4Real]

@T0@st Thanks for the heads up, this worked great for me for the 40 series launch. They really should have offered it from the get go, and they should also be tying more requirements to it than just an account created before launch day. We'll see how it goes..

 

[Bwaze]

Also, USA only.

 

[chrcoluk]

Do non American customers not matter, bit of an insult its USA only.

 

[Chrispy_]

Create artificial scarcity, make huge profits ~ rinse/repeat ad nauseam

Exactly.

Intentionally ceasing production of the 4070 and higher cards three months ago has meant that not only is the 50-series unobtanium and ripe for scalping, but also the previously ample supply of 40-series cards has vanished, so they're being scalped too.

There was no need for the artificial pause in supply, and this anti-scalping measure is far too little, far too late, because Nvidia are assholes who are absolutely overjoyed that price hikes and scalping are going on, because inflation raises the long-term average MSRP expectations which is more profit for them in the long run. The only reason NVidia are reviving this VPA system is because the near-toothless facade of a anti-scalping system is at least positive PR, no matter how thinly-veiled their true intentions are.

 

[Franzen4Real]

Received an email for this a couple of days ago. With 40 series it was a link to Best Buy, this time it was a link to Nvidia's web store.