I think the biggest issue they had was with consistency of frame rate. Maybe the graphic drivers have matured more for the RTX 30 than the later versions. Are you using the proprietary drivers, or the open source ones?

While it may be hard to cold turkey YouTube, at least I could make a start on that reading list…

Compared to what? I mechanical drive left on the shelf tends to seize up over time. Flash storage looses it’s trapped electrons representing bits. To protect the more sensitive data from bit rot, I use par2 for the files and dvdisaster for the whole disc.

I use BD to archive personal data. Then send it off site. The data is encrypted, so it can only be accessed with the correct authentication. What’s wrong with that?