Zotac has a plan to keep RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs away from the clutches of scalpers – and it sounds like it might be working

Zotac Gaming RTX 5090 Graphics Card
(Image credit: Zotac)

  • Zotac has fired up a scheme via its US Discord channel
  • Active community members can enter a raffle to win the chance to buy an RTX 5090 or 5080
  • It looks like this plan is helping in the good fight to beat scalpers

The scramble for Nvidia’s new graphics cards has been an unpleasant affair (once again), especially with the RTX 5090, as stock of the flagship GPU has been even more scarce than the RTX 5080 – but Zotac has a plan to help genuine buyers (as opposed to scalpers) in the US.

VideoCardz reports that Zotac’s Discord channel in the US is running a “priority access campaign exclusively for our loyal community” to offer active members an opportunity to purchase an RTX 5090 or 5080 graphics card.

It’s a raffle system, with a chance to buy as the prize, and there are some conditions attached, as you might expect. Notably a clause that any Discord member must have been actively engaged in discussions, challenges, and the like, to be eligible. Anyone joining to spam a few three-word-messages in the hopes of getting a purchase won’t (or shouldn’t) be considered.

Any kind of “manipulation” or “cheating” won’t be tolerated either, Zotac says. Furthermore, the board maker will keep an eye on reselling activity, with serial numbers of GPUs that are bought being recorded, and a threat of publicly exposing any scalper who does resell their graphics card.


Zotac GeForce RTX 5080 Solid 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card

(Image credit: Zotac)

Analysis: Zotac shows the way

Quite how Zotac might police the entire playing field for resellers isn’t clear, and probably not feasible, but still – I’ve got to admire the stance taken here against scalpers and bots.

These nefarious characters make any low-stock hardware launch much more of a nightmare than it should be, so efforts such as the scheme Zotac has concocted here must be applauded.

Wondering how Zotac plan has played out so far? According to the Reddit thread that VideoCardz picked up on this development through, Zotac’s Discord channel has witnessed a flood of folks signing up since the announcement.

So, it’s certainly going to drive more traffic for the channel, clearly, but if all a new member does is spam rubbish, they should be weeded out and be ineligible for the Blackwell purchase raffles.

Those who were active members before the announcement have apparently got a private channel with separate raffles to the main ones, with much greater chances of winning (like 25%, compared to less than 1% for the main raffles, we’re told, though take that with some seasoning).

It all sounds well enough organized, in short.

Why don’t all graphics card makers go down this route? Well, as VideoCardz points out, Zotac is one of the smaller outfits of the larger manufacturers (if you get what I mean), and it’s probably much more of a headache for some of the biggest operations in the GPU sphere to run a scheme such as this.

Still, shoring up defenses against scalping more broadly when it comes to popular launches like the RTX 5000 GPUs is well worth giving some more thought to, for both retailers and Nvidia’s board-making partners alike. Sadly, what we’ve seen elsewhere is official asking prices from graphics card makers themselves creeping up, or even jumping up, as a reaction to thin supply in the face of huge demand – so, what’d be a start is not doing this, please.

We’re trying to help as best we can, through our guides on where to buy an RTX 5080 today and also our RTX 5090 graphics card finder too. Best of luck out there, GPU hunters, but of course if you’re already on the Zotac Discord, you need to get yourself in the lottery there.

You might also like...

TOPICS

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series image
RTX 5090 and 5080 GPU stock woes could be eased as Nvidia launches 'priority access' scheme to help genuine buyers and leave scalpers in the cold
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 resting on an RTX 5090 on a gray crafting mat.
Nvidia RTX 5090 and 5080 GPU launch was frustrating and chaotic, leaving many PC gamers disappointed – exactly as the rumors predicted
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070
Nvidia RTX 5080 stock is so barren that retailers are holding competitions where you can "win" the right to buy one for MSRP
Zotac Gaming RTX 5090 Graphics Card
Nvidia Blackwell stock woes are compounded by price hikes as more RTX 5090 GPUs soar in pricing, and I’m sick and tired of it all at this point
A closeup of the Nvidia GeForce RTX branding on the 5070 Ti
Nvidia's RTX 5000 GPUs continue to face severe supply issues, with RTX 5070 Ti reportedly being even worse for launch stock than the RTX 5080
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 GPU on a green patterned background.
Scalpers are salivating right now - MSI suggests RTX 5090 supply will be tight due to Nvidia's shortage
Latest in GPU
Zotac Gaming RTX 5090 Graphics Card
Nvidia Blackwell stock woes are compounded by price hikes as more RTX 5090 GPUs soar in pricing, and I’m sick and tired of it all at this point
Nvidia app
Tired of manually optimizing your games? Nvidia's new G-Assist could save you time
Nvidia RTX 5080 against a yellow TechRadar background
RTX 5080 24GB version teased by MSI - is it time to admit that 16GB isn't enough for 4K?
Nvidia AMD
Nvidia rumors suggest it's working on two affordable GPUs to spoil AMD's party
An Nvidia RTX 5080 vs RTX 4080 Super against a two-tone background
Nvidia RTX 5080 vs RTX 4080 Super: should you upgrade to the latest Blackwell GPU?
An Intel Arc B580 vs Nvidia RTX 4060 against a two-tone background
Intel Arc B580 vs Nvidia RTX 4060: Which mainstream GPU is right for you?
Latest in News
An image of Pro-Ject's Flatten it closed and opened
Pro-Ject’s new vinyl flattener will fix any warped LPs you inadvertently buy on Record Store Day
The iPhone 16 Pro on a grey background
iPhone 17 Pro tipped to get 8K video recording – but I want these 3 video features instead
EA Sports F1 25 promotional image featuring drivers Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman.
F1 25 has been officially announced, with this year's entry marking a return for Braking Point and a 'significant overhaul' for My Team mode
Garmin clippd integration
Garmin's golf watches just got a big software integration upgrade to help you improve your game
Robert Downey Jr reveals himself as Doctor Doom to a delighted crowd at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Marvel is currently revealing the full cast for Avengers: Doomsday, and I think it's going to be a long-winded announcement
Samsung QN90F on yellow background
Samsung announces US prices for its 2025 mini-LED TV lineup, and it’s good and bad news