Costco is removing RAM from its display PCs to stop stores from being RAMsacked — shoplifters are getting savvy about GPUs and PC parts

(Image credit: Future)

The RAM price crisis is hitting the world of computing hard, and Costco has responded by removing the precious memory from its display PCs on the shelves.

As RAM, GPUs and other PC components surge in value, retailers are quickly changing how they display computers to combat shoplifters. And similar to stores protecting its assets during the graphics card boom amidst the pandemic, action is being taken.

The RAM-page problem

Costco removing RAM from display units. from r/pcmasterrace

As you can see in the Reddit post sharing this discovery, three of the four systems still have GPUs inside, but that $2,599 monster on the right has had its components taken out. As commenters shared, this is an act of self-preservation across retailers.

“They had just had someone steal the RAM from a display model and had caught them on camera,” Cosmo7 commented. “The weirdest thing was the thief was an Instacart shopper.”

Other commenters shared their own stories about how this isn’t just their local Costco, but Walmart too.

Worth its weight in gold?

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti — (Image credit: Future)

Just one look at the prices of these components show you why they have become a prime target for shoplifters. Corsair’s Vengeance RGB DDR5 RAM (32GB of it to be specific) used to be $117 in October — now it’s $439.

Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti with 16GB of video memory should be $429, but now it’s average price is above $600. Even storage is being hit hard, as some SSDs are now officially worth more than its weight in gold.

Hell, now that DDR5 RAM prices are out of control, the squeeze is being placed on last-gen (slower) DDR4 memory too, as this older standard has climbed over twice as quickly as the newer stuff — 172% to be specific.

Getting worse before it gets better

Two RAM sticks — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

What’s most frustrating is that we’re even here in the first place. You’ve seen a lot of these retailer efforts to curb shoplifting — locking up goods and increasing security presence.

Studies show that’s driving people away, and nearly 60% of shoppers are turning to online retail because of the “prison environment” atmosphere.

But as the AI squeeze will continue to make this problem worse, I can only predict that you’ll eventually just see a table of placards rather than cool systems to look at.

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Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.

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