Computer parts Breakdown and identification - Page 3

I am not sure on that irondale. I dont mess with those to be honest.

what a great thread.

Found this post very informative and definitely cut my questions down by a 1/4th. Thanks again.

I vote this as the best post of 2011, and gets the golden ataboy.

Thanks for the kind words olddude and everyone else on here. Im glad I could contribute to this forum.

Originally Posted by krimic26

Found this post very informative and definitely cut my questions down by a 1/4th. Thanks again.

Just a 1/4th?

(e)eproms with the glass window and gold centers are worth $50/lb and up.

Thanks for that, I have a bunch of them and knew they had to be worth more than the ceramic non gold window ones.

one thing i never fully understood, about the gold fingers on the cards and processors

are they pure gold, or gold plated copper?

plated and the older the part usualy the thicker the plating.

Originally Posted by RichardCourtney

one thing i never fully understood, about the gold fingers on the cards and processors

are they pure gold, or gold plated copper?

yes and yes

all of the gold used to plate electronics is 'pure'. and it is plated over a variety of base metals. copper is the one most often used. however, copper is now designated as a precious metal. so, technically, we can no longer call it a base metal.

I know I'm bumping an old thread but, I had to say thank you for a great reference.

They are 22k Gold plated onto copper with a very fine layer of nickel sandwiched in between.
The nickel is there because copper can "absorb" the Gold over time...the nickel stops this.

Hope that helps?

Thanks for the great post PTS. I just picked up a Pentium 2 CPU in a plastic case. The pic showing one taken apart was very helpful!

Thank you so much PTS - this has helped me a lot in breaking down that truckload full of computers. One question, and sorry if it's a stupid one (couldn't find it on a search): Can you take off the heat sinks and any copper, or do they have to stay intact on the boards? Thank you again!!

Man, this sure brought back some memories It's been a while since I've broken down many computers, but when I lived in TN i'd buy lots of surplus computers, some so old I told em once at a NASA place in AL they shoulda been Payin ME to haul it off! I'd take it home and sort through it, that was fun, I was looking for working computers, and the ones not worth messing with i'd remove the parts that looked worth saving, and stack the box with just the Mobo and power supply in an old tractor shed down by the barn, not knowing what i'd ever do with it. After several years that stack got fairly large and when it started coming close to time to move, I began to wonder what i'd ever do with it. I'd already sold most of the gold CPU's and other parts i could sell on Ebay, but that stack of cases with motherboards in it began to worry me, due to it being considered toxic waste. I began tearing down those old cases and tossing the boards into a pile, and hauled the metal cases to the scrapyard, a 4x10 trailer, with more in the truck, filled 4 times, but that stack of motherboards just got wayyy too big to hide. Even though it was mid 2006 I still didn't find anybody to buy the boards, and didn't want to send them to the landfill, but finally talked to a computer recycler downtown who "did me the favor" of taking them. It was a Ford Ranger long bed fairly filled, and while me and another guy were unloading them, the fella says I coulda hauled it to Atlanta to sell, and at that time, the price would have just about paid for the trip. Things have sure changed

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

If their hi-grade boards leave it on but if your talking low-grade, pluck away.

Thank you! This is my first time seriously escrapping, so the advice is really appreciated