- Japanese retailers are restricting Nvidia’s RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs to Japanese residents only
- It’s an attempt to stop tourists from buying the Blackwell GPUs
- It comes after a previous attempt to block tax-free purchases
Besides overpriced third-party models, Nvidia’s RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs are both difficult to obtain (especially Founders Edition cards). And as it turns out, one potential ‘easy’ alternative for consumers has very quickly been shut down.
As reported by VideoCardz, Japanese retailers have restricted purchases of the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 to Japanese nationals only. This comes after previous attempts to stop tourists from buying the prestigious graphics cards; notably, stores had blocked tax-free purchases, but they’re now taking a much more aggressive approach.
Signs in stores state that both of Nvidia’s high-end GPUs won’t be sold to anyone who intends on using the GPU outside of the country, effectively shutting out all tourists from buying. Customers will reportedly be put through a ‘Japanese resident’ test before purchasing.
It’s a highlight of the short supply and high demand situation surrounding graphics cards right now, and it’s perhaps quite an amusing tactic from consumers considering the lack of availability at launch price, elsewhere. On paper catching a plane to another country to buy a GPU sounds like an extreme measure, but I suppose a flight to Japan could cost less than the inflation differential in other regions.
It may sound like an extreme measure, but it’s actually rather familiar. Nvidia currently has its Verified Priority Access scheme in place, which allows US customers to reserve an opportunity to buy either an RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 Founders Edition GPU; the catch is that you must have made an Nvidia account on or before January 30 to be eligible.
This prevents scalpers from spoiling the party for genuine buyers, while also ensuring there’s enough to go around for consumers in the US (although, it’d be nice to see this become available for more regions), particularly in a time of high demand.
Jumping through these hurdles to get an RTX 5000 isn’t worth it if you ask me…
As I write this article on an RTX 5080 laptop, I can testify to how good the Blackwell GPUs are. However, going to another region to buy a graphics card isn’t worth the hassle.
Since I’m hooked on high-end gaming experiences at high resolutions, I’d never turn down the opportunity for a powerhouse GPU. For other gamers though, it’s not a necessity, and Steam’s latest hardware survey results show that 1080p is still the most widely used resolution.
We’re now at a stage where AMD’s APUs and Intel’s SoCs (System-on-Chip) are performing great in games at 1080p and 1440p resolutions; for example, AMD’s Ryzen AI Max 395+ outperforms some discrete GPUs in games like Cyberpunk 2077.
The only problem is these chips are only now gradually starting to make their way to desktop PCs, and most PC hardware components are facing price inflation anyway (particularly GPUs). It’s now a matter of weighing your options and whether high resolutions are a priority for you – just please don’t overspend, okay?
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