PAX West Gamers Score Exclusive Nvidia Deal
Nvidia's GeForce Evangelist Jacob Freeman made headlines at PAX West by offering the coveted RTX 5090 GPU at its MSRP of $1,999.
Freeman used a 'VPA IRL' system to distribute the cards, which stands for Verified Priority Access. Those who found him in person could use a code to purchase the card from Nvidia's web store.
The offer was only available during PAX West, which took place from September 4 to 7. However, Freeman ran out of RTX 5090 and 5080 cards by day three.
This stunt may seem like a clever way for gamers to get their hands on a pricey GPU at its MSRP, but it's not a solution to the ongoing graphics card shortage. In fact, prices for the RTX 5090 have skyrocketed to $5,500 in recent times, making Nvidia's offer look even more appealing.
Nvidia is no stranger to AI profits, which completely overshadow its gaming business. The company recently announced plans to acquire Hugging Face for $13 billion, further solidifying its position in the AI industry.