WTF?! In a perfect illustration of the state of the RTX 5000 launch, AIB partner Colorful has teamed up with an Indian retailer for an RTX 5080 competition. But the three winners don’t actually receive a free card; they get the opportunity to buy it at MSRP.
The EliteHubs x Colorful RTX 5080 campaign initially appears to be offering a free high-end Blackwell card. The fact that there will be only three “winners” of the competition further suggests this is the case.
However, what it is really offering is the chance to buy a Colorful RTX 5080 Ultra OC at its Indian MSRP of Rs. 1,10,000 ($1,263)
Checking other online stores in India shows all the Colorful RTX 5080 Ultra OC models are priced above that MSRP. This is a higher-end third-party card, admittedly, so it appears participants are getting the chance to buy it at a slightly cheaper price than usual. Still, most people expect competitions to have actual prizes, and the fact there will be only three winners is a bit comical.
It’s also a sad state of affairs when the only way to buy an RTX 5080 from a retailer, as opposed to an auction site for a small fortune, is a competition. Like the rest of the Blackwell series, the card is completely sold out on Newegg – even expensive bundles that include PSUs and monitors are listed as out of stock. It’s the same situation on Best Buy.
Some board partners are charging hundreds of dollars more than Nvidia’s $999 MSRP for their RTX 5080 cards. Only the FE models are that price on Best Buy, which also lists an Asus ROG Astral RTX 5080 for $1,649.
The RTX 5000 series has been a crushing disappointment for gamers expecting Blackwell to offer huge generational performance increases. They have also had to endure terrible availability.
This lack of stock and prices way above MSRP have made the market feel like the chip shortage/crypto boom times of 2020 and 2021 all over again. Add to this the overheating connectors, missing ROPs, and instability issues, and you can understand why some people have already decided to wait for the RTX 6000 series – or switch to AMD.
h/t: VideoCardz
