Used RAM

[candycane]

I was thinking of upgrading the RAM in my system and was looking on eBay to see if I can find any steals. I came across a listing with pretty decent price but the date on the RAM sticks say jan 2016. This would mean that the RAM is over 5 years old and I was wondering if it’d be fine if I bought RAM this old. (The RAM is g skill 3200 CL15)

[CommanderAlex]

How much is the RAM versus a new kit? I'm assuming DDR4, so prices should not be terribly high. 

[candycane]

15 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

How much is the RAM versus a new kit? I'm assuming DDR4, so prices should not be terribly high. 

It’s 32gb for about $80

[CommanderAlex]

15 minutes ago, candycane said:

It’s 32gb for about $80

That's not that bad as I thought. 

[YoungBlade]

RAM is like other solid state things: it either works properly, or it doesn't. Age doesn't guarantee problems, although obviously the odds of failure increases over time. I've got some ancient original DDR sticks that work fine, and I also came across a more recent stick (I think it was DDR3) in a friend's system a few years ago that had given up the ghost. Why do the older ones keep working while a newer one died? Who knows.

 

Used hardware is always a risk. No one can say for sure that it'll be fine. It's up to you to reason out where the reward is worth it.

 

You're spending $80 and probably saving about $60 compared to new. Basically, you're getting 32GB for the price of 16GB. So if you can use the extra RAM capacity, and otherwise couldn't afford it, then this could be a good option.