What to pay for cpus,boards,cards

[mu50stang]

Whats a good price to pay for cpus, boards, cards. I have a dealer who has a ton of it and want to find out a fair price so when I refine it it will be worth it. Thanks.

 

[lazersteve]

It all depends on the age and quality of the scrap.

The older the better, with pre-mid 90's stuff being mid grade.

The price all depends on the spot prices of metals.

Free is always best.

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

You will have a hard time making any money - unless you have free labor - and pay very little.

 

[mu50stang]

I know someone who has 200 cpus for sale for 100.00. they are the kind with the gold pins that stick out of them. Is that a good deal.

 

[lazersteve]

Got any photos?

Steve

 

[mu50stang]

THEY LOOK LIKE THIS

 

[lazersteve]

These are 'fiber' cpus.

Typically MMX and early Celeron processors.

They don't contain $2 worth of gold each.

I would expect less than 0.75 grams of 24 kt per pound.

Steve

 

[mu50stang]

he is selling them to me for .50 per processor. Can you use ap to harvest and refine these.

 

[lazersteve]

The legs are plated kovar which does not work very well with AP.

I would go with dilute nitric or AR.

Steve

 

[mu50stang]

Where can I find the steps for these two processes.

 

[butcher]

see Lasersteves post above He has link to his website click on it for a fun time and good info to your question. :wink:

Nitric acid or aqua regia a search for these would be more simple than another explanation, can make either as poor man or buy the chemicals,

 

[mu50stang]

i dropped those processors in and ap mix and they are stripping pretty good. Have you guys tried it before.

 

[lazersteve]

Typically AP will eat the solder from the CPU through holes and the surface of the legs without a problem. It slows down at the core of the legs. You may have better luck than I did, since I reuse the same batch of AP over and over again. A fresh batch may produce different results.

Steve

 

[mu50stang]

Here is a picture of what I got. Got some nice gold flakes off of it. The pins were left behind not sure how to get them out. They do stick to a magnet. I was wondering if i needed to get them out before I put them in the chlorine and acid mix to precipitate them.

 

[Rag and Bone]

Like looking into the stars...or a blurry aerial photo?

The Pentium "fiber" style chips you are stripping are a bugger. Get yourself some ceramic 386, 486 or Pentium Pro's and you will have some fun. The gold content is much higher and they are much more user friendly.

Keep at it!

 

[viacin]

Found 120 pentium III celerons. About 3lbs worth. Are they worth messing with? I'm not looking to make a lot of money, just need some experience and want to at least break even on chemicals. I've read $.50 worth of gold each several times, but everyone is not sure or is just guessing. Does anyone really know what they are worth after processing?

 

[lazersteve]

Are they the slotted variety or the PGA type?

Steve

 

[viacin]

PGA. I passed on them since I didn't know how much they were worth. I'de still like to know for next time tho

Are pentium III's considered flip chips?

 

[lazersteve]

Slotted PIIIs are not technically flip chips, although the core of early slotted varieties of PIII resemble flip chips. Flip chips have the core exposed on top. Non slotted PIII's (and FCPGA celerons) are considered flip chips.

Steve

 

[viacin]

interesting. I love computer parts and have read a great deal about them. I really didn't think I would learn anything about them in this forum. Just goes to show you never know everything.

but what about the gold content?