|  Ceramic computer chip with gold leads |
Thinking about recycling your CPU Computer chips for Gold?
Check for their collectible value first!
At Chips Etc. we often get inquires into what is the value of gold found in vintage computer chips. Our first bit of advice is to always check into the rarity and collectibility of your computer chip before considering sending it to a precious metal recycling company with the intent of reclaiming the gold content. It may possibly be worth quite a bit more due to it's collectible value than in it's gold value!
Unfortunately, their is very little profit from extracting the gold content found in most computer chips and electronic components unless you have significant quantities of them to process. Reclaiming Gold from CPU's & electronics is typically not profitable unless it's done professionally and in large quantities; when processing just a few items the cost is typically higher than the value of gold reclaimed. More importantly, the process of reclaiming gold involves working closely with hazardous materials including nitric and hydrochloric acids, as well as Mercury, and should only be performed safely by experienced precious metal recyclers.
Older computer chips from the 1960's & 70's contain the most gold content in general as they were often designed for military and aerospace applications which required them to have gold caps (lids) and gold leads/pins which offered increased longevity and corrosion resistance.
How much Gold is in CPU's & Computer Chips?
Intel Pentium Pro chips with gold wire bonding
During the 1990's some early versions of the Intel Pentium and many Intel Pentium Pro Processor chips had gold caps and pins, and internal solid gold wiring.
Very fine solid gold wiring was used in wiring bonding the computer chip (die) to the substrate packaging, all other components using gold were plated only.
The Pentium Pro has one of the highest gold contents of any mainstream CPU package from the 1990's due to it's large number of gold plated pins and cap. The Pentium Pro also had two separate chips inside so this doubled the amount of gold wire bonding that is usually found in a single chip CPU.
Very fine solid gold wiring was used in wiring bonding the computer chip (die) to the substrate packaging, all other components using gold were plated only.
The Pentium Pro has one of the highest gold contents of any mainstream CPU package from the 1990's due to it's large number of gold plated pins and cap. The Pentium Pro also had two separate chips inside so this doubled the amount of gold wire bonding that is usually found in a single chip CPU.
Gold plated CPU pins
Modern
computer chips manufactured after 1998 have very little gold
content in them because most no longer use gold wire bonding technology
or
gold caps in their packaging. However, some chips still used gold plated
pins even up till today.
The gold content in these modern chips is relatively low. For example, the Intel Pentium 4 Microprocessor had gold pins that were plated with a thickness of only 0.76 microns, that calculates to only 0.000176 cc of gold per CPU.
The gold content in these modern chips is relatively low. For example, the Intel Pentium 4 Microprocessor had gold pins that were plated with a thickness of only 0.76 microns, that calculates to only 0.000176 cc of gold per CPU.
Some Computer chips are worth more than their weight in Gold
A Toshiba Engineering Sample CPU with gold pins, pads & wires
The good news is that many older computer chips can be worth their weight in gold due to hungry vintage computer chip collectors.
Most popular with chip collectors are the early Intel microprocessor chips such as the Intel 4004, 8008 & 8080, as well as early Intel Memory chips such as the first ROM - the Intel 3101, & EPROM - the Intel 1702.
Other popular chips that collectors are seeking are the Motorola 6800 & 68000 CPU's, Mostek 6502 CPU, AMD 9140 RAM chips other early AMD chips, as well as any early 1960's and 70's integrated circuits and hybrid circuits that are in ceramic packaging with gold leads.
Even among modern CPU chips their are still ones worth saving from the gold recyclers. Especially popular by collectors are any chips, old or new, marked with "ES", "Engineering Sample", or "Mechanical Sample" on them. These chips were preliminary versions of the chip, they were given to vendors by the manufacturer to test out future designs before being offered to the general public.
However, chips marked "Confidential" were never intended to be used externally by vendors and should not have been available to anyone outside the manufacturer, these chips should be avoided by sellers and collectors and if found they should be returned to the original manufacturer.
So how do you know if you have a collectible computer chip that has any value? The best way to determine a computer chip's value is to search Ebay for similar chips offered for sale. Make sure to check Ebay's completed item's as well as current listed items. Chips Etc. also offers information on researching computer chips which can help in determining the value of your computer chips.
Most popular with chip collectors are the early Intel microprocessor chips such as the Intel 4004, 8008 & 8080, as well as early Intel Memory chips such as the first ROM - the Intel 3101, & EPROM - the Intel 1702.
Other popular chips that collectors are seeking are the Motorola 6800 & 68000 CPU's, Mostek 6502 CPU, AMD 9140 RAM chips other early AMD chips, as well as any early 1960's and 70's integrated circuits and hybrid circuits that are in ceramic packaging with gold leads.
Even among modern CPU chips their are still ones worth saving from the gold recyclers. Especially popular by collectors are any chips, old or new, marked with "ES", "Engineering Sample", or "Mechanical Sample" on them. These chips were preliminary versions of the chip, they were given to vendors by the manufacturer to test out future designs before being offered to the general public.
However, chips marked "Confidential" were never intended to be used externally by vendors and should not have been available to anyone outside the manufacturer, these chips should be avoided by sellers and collectors and if found they should be returned to the original manufacturer.
So how do you know if you have a collectible computer chip that has any value? The best way to determine a computer chip's value is to search Ebay for similar chips offered for sale. Make sure to check Ebay's completed item's as well as current listed items. Chips Etc. also offers information on researching computer chips which can help in determining the value of your computer chips.
AMD Amdahl Apple AT&T Bell Labs Burroughs Cray Cyrix ESI HP
Hughes IBM Intel ITT LSI Memorex Micron MIT Microvision Motorola
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