I'm curious about buying second-hand RAM since prices are super high right now. I found some listings on a marketplace for 64GB DDR5 RAM at about $300-$400 AUD less than retail. It sounds tempting, but I'm not completely sure if purchasing used RAM is a wise decision. Are there any major risks to consider, or should I go ahead and grab it?
5 Answers
As long as you can see it installed and working in a machine, the chances of it failing are pretty low. So, yeah, I’d say it’s probably a safe bet!
Honestly, RAM and CPUs are some of the safest components to buy second-hand. Just make sure they work well during testing, and you should be good!
I've never had issues with buying second-hand RAM. It's surprisingly reliable over the years. Though, sometimes I find I can't get it to run at XMP speeds, but that’s pretty rare!
In my experience, used RAM tends to fail just as often as new RAM, which isn’t very often at all! I'd say go for it, especially if you can check it out first.
I always ask sellers for pictures of the RAM set up and running, or even a screenshot of a memory test with specs and results. If they can’t provide it, I look elsewhere.
Does RAM usually come with a lifetime warranty? If so, could you potentially claim that on faulty sticks you buy?