NVIDIA confirms its 'priority access' scheme to defeat RTX 5000 GPU scalpers is still alive

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NVIDIA's scheme to thwart scalpers, and push genuine buyers of Blackwell GPUs to the front of the queue, hasn't been discontinued as some chatter on the grapevine suggested.

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NVIDIA rep on Reddit makes it clear that the VPA program has not ended (Image Credit: VideoCardz / NVIDIA)

You may recall that in February 2025, NVIDIA resurrected its Verified Priority Access (VPA) program for the Blackwell generation, a scheme previously enacted with Lovelace GPUs to prevent (or at least cut back on) scalping with its GPUs.

Note that this is only for US buyers, and the scheme means those folks who already have an NVIDIA account (created before January 30, 2025) can register their interest in purchasing a Founders Edition RTX 5090, 5080 or 5070 GPU at the MSRP direct from Team Green.

The account restriction is designed to stop scalpers from just creating a new account in order to buy (though it won't stop price gougers with an existing NVIDIA account, of course).

As VideoCardz flags up, an NVIDIA customer service representative previously advised a Redditor that the "VPA access [scheme] has been ended," and then confirmed the program was discontinued.

However, that turned out to be wrong, as clarified in the replies to the Redditor. Indeed, the original post has now been deleted by the NVIDIA mod who debunked the inaccurate speculation.

NVIDIA is likely to put the scheme on ice eventually, of course, but right now, Blackwell stock remains tricky to find, and Founders Edition models - with Team Green's nifty design, and moreover MSRP-level pricing - are still highly sought after. (Despite all the issues and niggles with these RTX 5000 GPUs, which are plentiful right now, sadly, and have been since launch).

Read more: The priciest consumer GPU ever? Custom ASUS RTX 5090 is decked out in gold and signed by Jensen