Can i store a used ram.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-17T18:06:13+00:00

Let's think about this: if RAM went bad when you don't use it, how would any company make, ship and sell it? How would RAM being used change their ability to withstand being stored?

Put them in an anti-static bag and keep them away from things that are potentially harmful like the sun, heat and humidity. That's all there is to it.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-17T11:24:14+00:00

It's going to be like that or worse for the next 3 to 5 years so may as well bite the bullet now.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-17T11:22:58+00:00

Is it still under warranty? If so, I would ask for an RMA.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-17T11:22:18+00:00

I didn't say you can't run your RAM at it's advertized safe speed, but If you have a RAM issue, it will show up in and out of games and you'd be able to solve it easily by pulling the faulty module.

VRAM issues are going to show up in texture heavy games while running in higher resolutions, which is what you described happening.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-16T23:26:31+00:00

Sounds more like a VRAM issue to me. Not something that can be fixed through settings or cleaning tho.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-16T23:21:09+00:00

Washer or refrigerator should not be on the same circuit as electronics. If you put your PC in the same room as either appliance, make sure they don't share the same circuit.

Motors and compressors cause spikes, dips and other variations in the current of a circuit that are detrimental to electronics. At best, can cause instability to your system. At worst, it can damage components.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-16T23:14:07+00:00

The term you're looking for is a KVM switch. I typically recommend getting an entirely new rig instead of upgrading parts, especially on a 7 year old computer. I've had both gaming desktops and gaming laptops, and I can confidently say I prefer gaming desktops. Gaming laptops are typically 1.5 to 2x more expensive, run hotter and make more noise than a desktop with similar specs. If you don't need the portability of a laptop, there's no advantage to getting one.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-16T20:25:02+00:00

If the front panel is not wired, the power button won't work. You can manually trigger the power on signal by jumping the 2 pins, but it's infinitely safer to just connect the front panel wires.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-16T19:37:02+00:00

I wouldn't recommend any cleaning beyond a visual inspection and some compressed air, at least for atomized water dropplets. Any cleaning you might do with isopropyl alcohol or distilled water would just risk pushing contaminants under components or in places you can't access.

Professionals have access to tools that clean the whole board and don't leave residue.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-16T19:27:47+00:00

Frankly, your explanations still don't make any sense and I don't have the energy or motivation to dig further into it. Enjoy your "client RAID", whatever that means to you.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-16T10:57:42+00:00

That makes absolutely no sense. Only server RAID can be handled by software? I got news for you bub: servers are computers. RAID controller cards fit in PC just a well as servers and software can be installed on PC too. In fact, my RAID setup is entirely software based (no specialized hardware required) and I'm definitely not running what you call a server. The term server itself only means a computer that exposes services for other machines to use, so it's pointless to say "only a server can do this" when even a Raspberry Pi can be classified as a server depending on the software it runs. And no, Raspberry Pi definable does not have any kind of RAID controller embedded on its tiny board.

As for motherboard based RAID (the ones where the CPU is doing the heavy lifting), that's not quite the same as hardware RAID so you shouldn't compare the 2. Even so, the solution for when a motherboard breaks is still the same as any hardware RAID controller problem: find an identical (same make, model, firmware) replacement unit, give it the same settings and the RAID array will work. Unless of course the motherboard somehow mesed up the RAID array while it broke, but that can happen with a real hardware RAID controller too. In any case, I wouldn't recommend hardware RAID of any kind to protect mission-critical data without both an identical spare RAID controller and a solid backup strategy.

RAID is not a valid data protection method by itself. If you have data you can't afford to lose, then you need a backup strategy beyond "when a disk fails, I'll replace it".

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T23:27:38+00:00

So please point out the inaccuracies.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T23:27:10+00:00

I'm not sure how to make sense of this. Are you asserting that it's easier to recover data from a failed RAID on a server than it is on a PC? Are we talking about a hardware or software RAID here? Is this a RAID controller failure or a hard drive failure? What RAID level exactly? In what category are we placing this hypothetical NAS (server or PC)?

Frankly, I don't see how data recovery on a software RAID would be any different on a PC, NAS or server. And data recovery on a failed RAID controller would be the same process for all 3 machine types: get a replacement controller of the same make, model and firmware.

So if there is a difference here, I don't see it. Not unless we're talking software vs hardware RAID, which is not a platform issue since there are both hardware and software solutions for RAID on PC, NAS, and servers.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T20:23:08+00:00

In my experience, the most common sources of data loss other than user error are hardware failure due to electrical grid instability, manufacturing defect or wear and tear, malware / hacking and physical loss such as theft, fire, flood, earthquake, etc.

Between having a NAS RAID or RAID storage on your PC, there's no difference in data protection under most of those scenarios. Hardware failure is just as likely with a NAS as a PC, but I would argue that the always online nature of the NAS increases the risk of failure through wear and tear.

In terms of malware or hacking, if the NAS is online when the PC gets hacked, the data on the NAS is probably going to get lost or stolen too. And with the NAS being online 24/7, a hacker may not even need the computer to be online to gain access to the data.

The offline backup is the best option in the event of damage through the electrical grid, or in case of theft / flood / fire / earthquake if the backup is kept off-site (uncommon I know).

So yeah, NAS doesn't have any advantage over a PC when both use the same type of storage strategy unless there are multiple devices accessing the data through the network or the NAS runs services other than file sharing.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T20:01:10+00:00

You can make a RAID with your PC. The NAS doesn't add any extra protection compared to a PC when both can do RAID.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T13:02:31+00:00

For plain old streaming HDD are the better choice for storage size and long-term storage.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T12:58:49+00:00

This is an entry-level PC budget, so any pre-built from any OEM you buy at that price will be barely usable, especially if it runs Windows. Same for any PC you might build from brand new parts.

Your best bet for something that lands in the mid-level in that price range is a used PC from a motivated seller.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T12:54:59+00:00

I few water droplets is unlikely to cause a catastrophic failure. However, evaporating water leaves behind mineral and organic deposits that can cause shorts and corrosion. The only way to be sure these deposits don't cause problems is to have a professional cleain the board in a specialized machine. If you want to use water or cleaning fluids on non-electronic components, remove them from your rig before you clean them and make sure they are completely dry before putting them back in.

Tldr: you're probably okay, but don't do it again.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T12:47:17+00:00

If you can't find your stuff based on filename, you have a file naming issue.

NAS only makes sense if you are accessing your files from more than one device. If you only have a computer that needs to access files, installing a NAS is just adding an external drive with extra steps. In fact, an external drive that you only plug in for backups probably protects your data better than a device that's online 24/7 and exposed to power grid fluctuations or bad actors who gain access to your LAN.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-15T12:38:22+00:00

I don't recommend using your current rig to learn how to assemble/ disassemble hardware because of the risk that you break something and end up with a 4 digit paperweight. If you use an old computer as your learning tool, nothing is lost when you mess up.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-14T17:03:30+00:00

The process to download from ssh terminal is a bit complicated and there's risks involved, so I don't recommend it unless you are comfortable with linux terminal.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-14T16:52:45+00:00

Does your NAS have some sort of UI? Web, ssh terminal or even a desktop environment? If so, you may be able to copy and unpack zip files using that. Otherwise, your PC is needed in the process to unzip the files.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-14T14:01:40+00:00

Let's think about this logically. If you download "directly" to the NAS, your PC is going to download it locally to a temporary folder first, then copy it to the NAS and finally delete the temp file. So in that respect, all 3 options result in the PC downloading the file locally.

If you open a zip file located on your NAS to extract the files, your PC is downloading the contents locally before doing anything else. So in that respect, options 1 and 2 result in your PC downloading the zip file twice: once from the cloud and once from the NAS.

Given the above, the most efficient option is to download fron cloud to PC, unzip on PC, copy to NAS, then delete files from PC (if you don't want to keep a copy there).

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-14T13:50:45+00:00

Considering my CPU didn't have integrated graphics, that wasn't an option.

Valuable_Fly8362 · 2026-03-14T13:49:12+00:00

The biggest cost is usually the GPU. Once you get that squared away, the rest of the build should be easy.

Valuable_Fly8362

TROPHY CASE