My NAS is almost filled with used parts, mostly lightly used. Only the power supply is brand new as the form factor is hard to find.(flex ATX, I bought an FSP FlexGURU)

IMO excluding HDD, most hardwares can be used without much consequence: CPU, RAM(I only trust original/major grade sticks), case and perhaps power supply(from reputable brand and known good model)

Apologies, most of the dull ones are ground pins and the shiny ones are signal pins. The unique layout was probably designed for signal integrity.

Check out the pinout diagram for LGA1700, those are ground pins(VSS).

WD is sabotaging their own reputation, the Red drive SMR bait and switch already says all.