Non-ECC RAM vs ECC RAM: ECC is overkill for hobby builds, but worth it for production servers

Non-ECC RAM errors are real but rare—roughly 1 bit flip per 1-2 GB per year. For a 32 GB, 3-day compile, there’s a ~0.3% chance of a soft error. The compiler catches most corrupted data via checksums anyway. Only get ECC for production CI servers or medical devices; for home builds, run memtest86+ instead of buying ECC.