Today's the day! The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is available to purchase…if you can find stock. Given that our Dave says this GPU gives some of the pricier 50-series cards a run for their money, it's no wonder why you might struggle to find one for anywhere close to MSRP—to say nothing of the stock issues the RTX 5090 and the RTX 5080 have been staring down since their launch last month.
To combat some of that aforementioned clamour, Nvidia has brought back its own draw system, 'Verified Priority Access,' last seen in action for the RTX 4090 back in 2022. This will allow a very exclusive number of "verified GeForce gamers & creators in the United States" a chance to pay full retail price for either one RTX 5090 or one RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics card via the Nvidia Marketplace.
The hoops any hardware hopeful needs to jump through are as follows: you must have an Nvidia account that was created prior to 6 AM Pacific Time on January 30 2025, and you must fill out this relevant form. This latter point is perhaps easier said than done when you consider the high likelihood that everyone else in the US with a qualifying Nvidia account is also trying to square away all that important paperwork. Still, once you've ticked all of those boxes, Nvidia says invites to purchase either one of the GPUs will start rolling out next week.
Given the inclusion of creators, I have my own doubts about just how random this particular draw system will truly be—but it definitely beats paying scalper prices. That said, while Nvidia has been clear that those who receive an invite will be limited to picking up one card, and one card only, the company has made no indication as to just how many units in total have been allocated to Verified Priority Access.
We already knew that there'd be extremely limited stock available for both of these GPUs, so to see retailers return to online lottery systems like this is hardly surprising. Still, with little clear indication as to when these cards may become slightly less hard to come by, a smidge of frustration would be unsurprising either.
There is one winner here though, and that's ultimately Nvidia itself; the draw system closes other retail partners out of the financial loop, and ensures the greatest amount of profit from your graphics card purchase goes directly to Nvidia. Trust big business to make the best of a bad situation.
