# cpu collector's website



## hfywc (Sep 28, 2010)

hi all.

i came across a topic that has a link to a website for cpu colletor's sometime ago but couldn't locate now...i just purchased an old ibm mainframe chip and trying to find out what the value is>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 


alan

thanks.


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## jimdoc (Sep 28, 2010)

http://www.cpu-collector.com/

http://www.cpushack.com/

http://www.cpu-collection.de/

http://www.cpu-world.com/links/


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## hfywc (Sep 28, 2010)

thanks for a quick reply jim...but what i am looking for is the thread discussion itself...i tried google before and came out with the similar search result....

there's something special about that particular thread...anyone remembers?


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## jimdoc (Sep 28, 2010)

This one?

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=7312&p=66252&hilit=cpu+collectors#p66252

or this one?
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=1996&hilit=cpu+collectors

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=4856&hilit=cpu+collectors


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## Anonymous (Sep 28, 2010)

PM sent
I want to buy it


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## Anonymous (Sep 28, 2010)

*Here's mine*


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## hfywc (Sep 28, 2010)

jimdoc said:


> This one?
> 
> http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=7312&p=66252&hilit=cpu+collectors#p66252
> 
> ...



great job jim! thanks a million.

alan

btw how did you search for that topic? what key words did you use? i tried searching for "cpu colletors" but to no avail....


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## hfywc (Sep 28, 2010)

mic said:


> *Here's mine*



two cpus were being auctioned at that time but i only manage to win one...could you be the other winner?

is that for sale?


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## Anonymous (Sep 28, 2010)

Not likely,unless that auction ended several years ago.


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## hfywc (Sep 28, 2010)

mic said:


> Not likely,unless that auction ended several years ago.




i am happy to see that someone has an identical cpu as i have...


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## jimdoc (Sep 28, 2010)

Alan,
I searched for it the same as you did,you can tell by the end of the links;
=cpu + collectors and those words will be highlighted in the posts.
You didn't spell collectors in the search like you did in your post did you?

Its a shame that the old Ebay links are gone,they were a good way to compare what you may have and values (actual real sold prices).

Jim


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## hfywc (Nov 21, 2010)

hi all.

i just want to share a similar ibm mainframe cpu...notice the different pin arrangements and this one comes complete with the enclosures...really heavy piece almost the same size as the other one.

thanks for looking!

alan


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## Anonymous (Nov 21, 2010)

Wow you spent a fortune for that.....you must've wanted it aweful bad.


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## hfywc (Nov 22, 2010)

mic said:


> Wow you spent a fortune for that.....you must've wanted it aweful bad.



there's another kind i am trying to get to complete my collection...if i happen to find one.

here's a picture of the back....


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## hfywc (Nov 22, 2010)

and the front.....


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## Anonymous (Nov 22, 2010)

Is it actually red like in the picture or did the camera do that?I have yet to see an MCM/TCM that was red.


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## philddreamer (Nov 22, 2010)

Wondering about the date of those cpu's; because I had a guy call me if a could recover some gold from some 1970's PC's. He found a stash dumped in some field. They're full of rust; he picked up a dozen & checked them, that's when he noticed the golden parts. I was hoping the cpu's would be like the ones you gentlmen are showing; but, I noticed the 9450 date on one of Alan's pic's, which I took for 1950, so I did a search & found this site, http://members.optusnet.com.au/intaretro/Packages.htm , it answered some of my Q's. 

Phil


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## Anonymous (Nov 22, 2010)

philddreamer said:


> I noticed the 9450 date


That code indicates that the item was maunfactured in the 50'th week of 1994,the first 2 being the year and the last 2 being the week.But a lot of components have other numbers that look like a date code,usually the dat code is very close to the items manufacturer number.
And those cpus that hfywc and I are talking about were munufactered in the 80's and early 90's.If you saw the heat sink from an mcm you WOULD know it instantly.Unfortunately they are extremely rare,and getting more rare by the day due to scrappers not being aware of what they have.Fortunately the mainfraims they come from are still very much in use these days and still worth tens of thousands of dollars as a usable computer.So there are still many out there,but not many that are not in service.


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## hfywc (Nov 22, 2010)

thanks for the link phil!

the picture was borrowed from another website but i am guessing is the actual cpu... and and mic how come you're so knowlegeable about these cpus? 

alan


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## Anonymous (Nov 22, 2010)

hfywc said:


> and mic how come you're so knowlegeable about these cpus?


I could fill 2 pages with the info I have on them,but the last thing I want is more competition to buy them,so I keep most of the info under my hat.... :mrgreen:


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 22, 2010)

mic said:


> hfywc said:
> 
> 
> > and mic how come you're so knowlegeable about these cpus?
> ...



The grass always looks greener from the other side till you get there.... 8) :roll: :mrgreen:


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## hfywc (Nov 24, 2010)

here's another one with heatsink still attached....

hey mic...how much do you think these cpus worth?


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## Anonymous (Nov 24, 2010)

I would've spent the same amount,but not with shipping.I offered him $80 plus actual shipping and he didn't go for it :roll: 
I've seen such a spike in people over there trying to gouge americans on shipping and this is yet another example.
If this one has the gold case,which I am sure it does by the date,then it would be nice to own.


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## hfywc (Nov 24, 2010)

okay...thanks mic.

i read somewhere that these cpus contains about 7grams of gold. does anyone knows?


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## Anonymous (Nov 24, 2010)

I heard an amount a few years back that was in no way real.But to answer your question,no I don't know.I would never process one that's for sure.In about 20 years these should be near priceless.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 24, 2010)

mic said:


> I heard an amount a few years back that was in no way real.But to answer your question,no I don't know.I would never process one that's for sure.In about 20 years these should be near priceless.



Send it to me I will process it. You can't eat a chip... 8)


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## jimdoc (Nov 24, 2010)

Sometimes you can eat a lot more with what a collector will pay for some things, and get some beer also..I think these are one of those items.

Jim


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## Anonymous (Nov 24, 2010)

jimdoc said:


> Sometimes you can eat a lot more with what a collector will pay for some things, and get some beer also..I think these are one of those items.


Barren is only screwing with me.He know's I'd be taking a drive to arkansas if he processed one of these.... :mrgreenor I'll break out my light saber!)


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## patnor1011 (Nov 24, 2010)

I can agree with both sides. It is good to put few aside as they may fetch nice profit later from some collectors. On the other hand I would not go after them filling boxes as there may be times coming with no collectors at all and no time or means to process them in future... :mrgreen:


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 24, 2010)

mic said:


> jimdoc said:
> 
> 
> > Sometimes you can eat a lot more with what a collector will pay for some things, and get some beer also..I think these are one of those items.
> ...




8) I wouldn't need to process it, I could find a buyer with the following I have. I would hate to process something that beautiful any way. :mrgreen:


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## Anonymous (Nov 24, 2010)

Barren Realms 007 said:


> I could find a buyer with the following I have


Yeh you got on there a year after I did and have 5 times the following.....you suck! Love ya bud.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 24, 2010)

mic said:


> Barren Realms 007 said:
> 
> 
> > I could find a buyer with the following I have
> ...



Yep I have to thank you for that. 8) :mrgreen: 

HHMMMM, I wonder what forum rule I can get changed next... :lol: :lol: :twisted: 

Grey traces coming in beginning of the week...... 8) 8) 8) I love it.... :mrgreen:


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## philddreamer (Nov 28, 2010)

Mic, I finally got hold of some of the boards I told you. Here are some pic's. There's only 2 of the cpu's, should have been 5. 
On most of the boards, the gold plate looks like it runs all thru the boards on both sides. 

It looks promising; I hope he has some more, like he said.

Thanks.

Phil


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## Anonymous (Nov 28, 2010)

Those are nice boards phil.That last board has quite a bit of pd on it.
If your guy is responsible for the breakage,tell him to be more careful. :roll:
But either way that a nice haul.I got the load last week from nasa and there's a ton of good stuff in there.I disassembled an HP 335a synth. level generator this morning,it was unbelievable.I took a pic of all the boards but I still don't know how to shrink the pics to get them on the forum.I screw around and see if I can't figure it out.


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## philddreamer (Nov 28, 2010)

Thanks Mic!
Been having trouble with connection to the forum. I'm back again.

Yeap, he tried to take them apart & broke a lot of them. There should have been 5 cpu's, I only found 2; I just hope he has more pc's like he said.

Would like to see some of your Pic's. Did you try setting your cam on VGA? That was my problem, wrong setting. VGA "shrinks" the pic's for ease of e-mailing & also helped me to be able to post them here on the forum. Here's a couple more.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 28, 2010)

Phil, 

That looks like the bottoms of the chips can you turn over and take a picture of the top of the chips so a number can be seen?


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## philddreamer (Nov 28, 2010)

Indeed! 

I just had the "sunny" side up! 8) 

They're 3 kinds, IBM52; IBM52/34 & IBM98C. The first 2 weigh 5.7g ea. & the 98, 5.9g.


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## Anonymous (Nov 28, 2010)

I looked them up and they seem to be common,not very collectable chips,however in my time processing I feel that IBM was one company that was very liberal with its gold plating.If you intend on processing them,you should see a little higher than normal return.


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## philddreamer (Nov 28, 2010)

Thanks Mic!

I've been coming across some more golden parts, like small black (Motorola?) processors w/golden legs, MC862P. 

I guess tomorrow I'll start a batch.


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## Anonymous (Nov 28, 2010)

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=8276&p=77384&hilit=transistors#p77338
You may find this thread interesting.Chris said that another member extracted $142 of gold per pound of T-05's and that was when gold was $950 oz.


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## philddreamer (Nov 28, 2010)

Indeed!

Thanks a lot!


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 29, 2010)

mic said:


> http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=8276&p=77384&hilit=transistors#p77338
> You may find this thread interesting.Chris said that another member extracted $142 of gold per pound of T-05's and that was when gold was $950 oz.



I think that is going to be the ones with the gold plated bottom on them not the ones with out the gold bottom. And I would suggst you run them seperatley from other items.


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## Anonymous (Nov 29, 2010)

Barren Realms 007 said:


> I think that is going to be the ones with the gold plated bottom on them not the ones with out the gold bottom.


But all the ones in the picture have gold plated bottoms barren.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 29, 2010)

mic said:


> Barren Realms 007 said:
> 
> 
> > I think that is going to be the ones with the gold plated bottom on them not the ones with out the gold bottom.
> ...



The gig one has a plate on the bottom the smaller ones don't they have a filler in the bottom.


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## philddreamer (Nov 29, 2010)

I will run them separate from other materials. But I didn't get what acids to run them thru. 

Today I'll finish crushing the ceramics, run thru some nitric to de-base, then P/AR.
While that "cooks", I'll continue de-soldering the panels, de-mask & AP them. 
Please correct me if I'm wrong.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 29, 2010)

philddreamer said:


> I will run them separate from other materials. But I didn't get what acids to run them thru.
> 
> Today I'll finish crushing the ceramics, run thru some nitric to de-base, then P/AR.
> While that "cooks", I'll continue de-soldering the panels, de-mask & AP them.
> Please correct me if I'm wrong.




Run them thru HCL to remove the outer shell and them process the rest as usual for PM's.


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## philddreamer (Nov 29, 2010)

Thank you Frank!


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## philddreamer (Nov 29, 2010)

Mic wrote:
"...however in my time processing I feel that IBM was one company that was very liberal with its gold plating.If you intend on processing them,you should see a little higher than normal return."

After crushing & taking the plates off, I have 249g of material. 
I x's that by .05 = 12.45g. Expecting 10 to 12g of gold be too much to expect from this material? :roll:


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 29, 2010)

I feel you will be lucky to get 5-7g. Take a look at the pieces of ceramic chips, do you see the traces of gold on wires where your chips are cracked. If you want more of your chips crush them to powder.


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## philddreamer (Nov 29, 2010)

I will, its just that the owner needs some money, so I'll get some values now. I already advanced him $100.00 in cash. Its a 50/50 venture.

Thanks!


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 29, 2010)

philddreamer said:


> I will, its just that the owner needs some money, so I'll get some values now. I already advanced him $100.00 in cash. Its a 50/50 venture.
> 
> Thanks!



That will work then. 8)


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## philddreamer (Nov 30, 2010)

I found more parts with gold. While de-soldering, I pop'd a lid with a dial; took a look @ the dial & behold! :shock: 
Also the small switch to the left of the dial, after opening it, I found a bit more gold.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Nov 30, 2010)

You will find a little more on the black IC chips still soldered on the board. Maybe.


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## Striker40 (Jan 20, 2011)

The IBM CPU that mic posted was mine.I bought 4 of them off ebay several years ago when gold was around $300 a oz.I bought all 4 for $16.00.I hung on to them for a few months till i got tired of looking at them so i put them on ebay and got $1600 for 2 of them and $1700 for the other 2.I was told by a refiner in south florida that there was aprox 3 oz of gold in each cpu.20+ miles of fine gold wire in them.The refiner had close to 100 of them.I know what machines they came out of.They are very rare to find now.The back plane that they were in has a ounce of gold in the pins.I have more pics of them,but it will take some digging to find them.


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## adam_mizer (Jan 20, 2011)

Striker40 said:


> The IBM CPU that mic posted was mine.I bought 4 of them off ebay several years ago when gold was around $300 a oz.I bought all 4 for $16.00.I hung on to them for a few months till i got tired of looking at them so i put them on ebay and got $1600 for 2 of them and $1700 for the other 2.I was told by a refiner in south florida that there was aprox 3 oz of gold in each cpu.20+ miles of fine gold wire in them.The refiner had close to 100 of them.I know what machines they came out of.They are very rare to find now.The back plane that they were in has a ounce of gold in the pins.I have more pics of them,but it will take some digging to find them.



Striker, I know its a rare find but I'm interested in more pictures and details if you come up with them.


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## glorycloud (Jan 20, 2011)

Seems like they came out of old IBM comm controllers that were
used to route traffic from IBM terminals to and from their mainframes.


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## hfywc (Apr 22, 2011)

wish came true...finally received these two bad boys in the mail!


just thought i would share. thanks for looking.


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## Anonymous (Apr 22, 2011)

You Suck!(Seriously....congrats)
I got an AS/400e last week and Im praying it has one(or more) in it.
I will find out monday if it has any in it.I'll let ya'll know then.
What really gets my heart pounding is the 9000 in main office of the buiding where the sale is.Those could have up to 32 in them!I have been in that building 50 times and everytime I go,I look in that one office to see if they have decided to let it go.Keeping my fingers crossed.


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## Anonymous (Apr 22, 2011)

Striker40 said:


> I was told by a refiner in south florida that there was aprox 3 oz of gold in each cpu.20+ miles of fine gold wire in them.


Striker,you and I have had this discussion several times.Originally you told me the refiner said there was 4oz. of gold in each,but it does not matter because there is NO WAY it has even 3 oz.
Even if it contained 20 miles of wire,it could very well have less that 1/3 of an ounce of gold in it,considering 1 ounce of gold can be stretched over 50 miles without breaking.And I am positive that IBM is well aware of just how far they can stretch that gold.
Some ceramic CPU's do have "miles" of gold wire in them,but we are talking about milligrams in gold.Not ounces.And yes that is even for a chip that is 4" x 4" in size like the IBM MCM/TCM.


striker40 said:


> The back plane that they were in has a ounce of gold in the pins.


They do not go into a backplane.


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## hfywc (Sep 19, 2017)

i snag another one of this ibm mcm cpus. similar to the first one i posted before.


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## Bator (Sep 20, 2017)

Cool!
IBM System 390/Enterprise System 9000 - 9121 TCM MCM CPGA-2772


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## glorycloud (Sep 20, 2017)

A real beauty there for sure!! 8) 

Nice find!!


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