The company is showcasing its flagship GPUs from a silicon-toting taco stand at its own GPU Technology Conference (GTC).
The stunt, which is either a marketing masterstroke or the saddest commentary yet on the state of GPU supply chains, lets GTC attendees buy the mythical RTX 5080 ($999) or RTX 5090 ($1,999) at their actual MSRP—a price nobody else on Earth has seen outside of scalper-free dreams.
This means that you will have to pay at least $1,145 for a conference day pass, just for the privilege of queuing at this travelling graphics circus.
Only 2,000 total cards are being sold: 1,000 each of the 5080 and 5090, distributed in flash sale bursts, much like digital ketamine.
Nvidia employees even took to X (formerly Twitter, now just a dumpster fire with worse branding) to shout things like, “90 GeForce RTX 5090 units are available for the next 30 minutes!” Presumably, while holding a bullhorn and wearing a merch hoodie.
This GPU-on-wheels escapade isn’t just a publicity stunt—it’s a symptom of Nvidia's total pivot to the AI overlords. With the cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street throwing money at Nvidia’s B100 and B200 data centre GPUs, Nvidia has barely blinked at the consumer market lately. Each AI chip goes for about $50,000 a pop, so naturally, selling budget-melting gaming cards to enthusiasts isn’t exactly at the top of the to-do list.
But Nvidia still needs software developers to build the next generation of ray-traced TikTok filters and LLM-powered cat simulators, so handing out 2,000 GPUs at GTC is a symbolic olive branch to the non-AI nerds.
Still, this van-based rationing is like tossing breadcrumbs to a horde of starving pigeons and calling it a banquet.
If you’re a developer who didn’t shell out nearly two grand for a GTC pass, you're stuck waiting behind an army of crypto bros, AI startups, and scalpers with VPNs. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s data centre gear is being crammed into everything from corporate superclusters to Elon [Roman Salute] Musk’s doomsday bunker.
