Nvidia sells limited RTX GPUs at conference in San Jose

Nvidia is selling popular RTX 5080 and 5090 graphics cards at its GPU Technology Conference (GTC) through a unique pop-up "food truck" style stall. This unusual sales approach is attracting attention, but only GTC attendees can purchase the cards. The tickets for the conference cost over a thousand dollars. Attendees can buy not only graphics cards but also other merchandise like shirts and vests. However, there is no discount for the graphics cards, and some are from third-party partners rather than Nvidia's own models, which are sold at high retail prices. Nvidia has a limited supply of the graphics cards, with only 1,000 of each model available. The cards are sold in small batches at random times. Recently, a post indicated that 90 cards would be available for purchase within a 30-minute window. GTC is ongoing and features various AI and industrial products, including new desktops and mini PCs. Most buyers at the conference are developers looking for the cards to use in professional work, rather than for gaming. Some people speculate that these hard-to-find cards may appear for resale on platforms like eBay soon after they are purchased.