# Gold content of P4 Processor



## Claudie (May 4, 2013)

An interesting read with some good information about the Gold content of CPUs

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/electronics-recycling/10963-article-gold-we-all-search.html

According to the article, a P4 has 0.000176 cc of Gold per cpu & with thickness of only 0.76 microns on the pins, no other Gold in them.


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## 9kuuby9 (May 10, 2013)

In theory we'll need around 5682 Pentium 4 CPUs' to recover 1 gram of Au? 

Even the nickel plated copper heat sink is more worth than the gold it contains... 

Does anyone have an actual yield recovery data from recovery of p4's? most of us probably don't bother to refine them but what do most of us do instead with it?


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## yar (May 10, 2013)

most of us probably don't bother to refine them but what do most of us do instead with it?

Knock off the copper heat sink, sell for #2 copper. Sell the rest to an ewaste recycler, should be getting $6.00 a pound for them.


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## AUH-R (May 21, 2013)

9kuuby9 said:


> In theory we'll need around 5682 Pentium 4 CPUs' to recover 1 gram of Au?
> 
> Even the nickel plated copper heat sink is more worth than the gold it contains...
> 
> Does anyone have an actual yield recovery data from recovery of p4's? most of us probably don't bother to refine them but what do most of us do instead with it?



I am a refining beginner so I would have lost a certain percentage with the batch of P4's I just did. The yield I got is 0.005 grams of Au per CPU, hope this helps.

AuH-R


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## 9kuuby9 (May 21, 2013)

AUH-R said:


> I am a refining beginner so I would have lost a certain percentage with the batch of P4's I just did. The yield I got is 0.005 grams of Au per CPU, hope this helps.
> 
> AuH-R



So practically it would be around 175 to 200 of P4's to yield 1 gram of Au.

You should always Incinerate the powders to get a maximum yield, especially with these type of pins which are tricky to process in comparison with ceramic processors; It some times really can make a great difference. 
And as you pointed out it really depends on the knowledge and experience one has to make a difference in the resulting yield.

And from your posts I saw that you really did a good refining job with those P4's, "good experience comes from bad experience"

And thanks for the yield info


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