# How long does RAM last?



## Justin59 (Oct 16, 2014)

I know it may sound silly but I find it fascinating that RAM is usually the last computer component to die, given the ridiculous amount of read/writes it has to go through at every boot. I mean, isn't that exactly what wears down flash drives? I have an Asus x101ch netbook and the RAM has been fine for the last 3 years under HEAVY usage. While on the other hand, during these years I had to buy 3-4 flash drives. So how exactly does RAM work that prevents it from wearing down even after all this heavy usage? Is it completely different to how flash drives work?

I'm current using a portable linux from a bootable flash drive (my SSD died last month). There is a boot command that copies all the files of the distro to my RAM at boot, so I can just remove the flash drive after the machine has booted and still be using the OS at ease. Since it's a really lightweight distro, the size of all the files that are copied is around 200 MB combined. My Asus netbook has 2 GB ram. So will copying all the files to RAM and then working from there wear down the RAM? Or is it just another typical read/write cycle for the RAM and can handle it at ease.

All answers are welcome. Thanks!


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

If you pulled the ram chips out of your computer and reinstalled them as many times as you pull a flash drive, you would probably see more ram failures.


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## Amd_Man (Oct 18, 2012)

I've had and still use the same 4 gig flash drive for six years. I always use the safely remove hardware option though. Flash drives usualy die because people just pull them out without safely doing so. Ram on the motherboard has a much bigger area to expel heat as opposed to a flash drive not to mention case fans. Poor quality power supplies with no over-voltage or surge protection can and will take out ram when they die or suffer from a surge.


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

Plus the fact that it is completely different memory chips.
RAM does not retain the contents when power is removed for a start.


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## Justin59 (Oct 16, 2014)

Thanks for the replies, guys. So does it mean that it won't be a problem if I copy the files of the linux distro to the RAM and continue to use the OS from there?


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## accuratecomputer (Oct 8, 2014)

Some RAM can last for only 2 or 3 years while some can last more than 10. Others can. For example I have worked on computers 8-10 years old which had the original ram and it was working nicely. The power loss and fluctuation is the only major factor which can damage any ram.


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

I have NEVER known volatile RAM for use inside a machine to "wear out". It just does not happen (well maybe now there are cheap "Chinese" knock-offs it might) and I been servicing and using computers since 1968 - yes well before PCs.

None volatile RAM used in Flash drives and SSDs is a different matter altogether. 
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-volatile_random-access_memory
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory

as compared to: http://www.techopedia.com/definition/9966/volatile-storage


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## zx10guy (Mar 30, 2008)

The comments about flash memory not being the same as regular RAM are correct. They are two different technologies and can't be compared to each other. Why flash memory is different is how it fundamentally works. Flash memory uses tunnel injection and release to store and erase memory contents. The insulator which holds the electrons begins to wear after repeated write/erase cycles which causes the memory to not be able to retain the electrons in the memory chip. This is the wear everyone talks about.


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## Amd_Man (Oct 18, 2012)

Of course they are not the same. I have several and all are over three years old and still work fine and I use them for work all the time.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

I've been using a Digital Photo Frame I made from an old laptop for 8 months now, it's on 24/7, runs BartPE totally in the Ram, and it's still working perfectly.

So I don't think you need to worry about your Ram failing !

EDIT : Is it Puppy linux you're using or some other distro ?


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

I rather suspect that if you did as MS suggested and used a flash stick for readyboost where it was continually being rewritten, it would not last.
I have a client that has a Win 98 based system that has been continuously on (apart from power cuts) for 15 years. It runs in RAM and only uses a disk to boot from. DOS creates a RAM disk for essential disk activity.

We keep expecting to have to replace it, but it works adequately so why bother till it fails ( there is a commercially available Linux based box nowadays to do the same job)


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