Could it be? Gold heatsink in computer!

**totalfish** · 08-02-2012, 07:55 PM

I am almost embarrassed to ask. I will try to get a photo on. I found a tower, no brand, home built. In it was a small heatsink, it is gold colored. scrape and more:confused::confused: gold (deep scrape) Do they ever gold plate these things? No laughing if impossible please, everybody was new once!

**Dunemaul** · 08-02-2012, 08:13 PM

Does it look like this. And yes they do for the same reason people have huge gold chains and watches.

**Scrapcrazy** · 08-02-2012, 08:20 PM

Oh those... I have lots of those! Yah right, I wish!

**toula** · 08-02-2012, 08:26 PM

What's the scrap value?

**Scrapcrazy** · 08-02-2012, 08:32 PM

Totalfish, take a pic for us. Let us know what you find out. I truly hope it's gold for you!

**BuckStacyBuck** · 08-02-2012, 10:37 PM

ya I would love to see a picture of such a thing

**scrappy888** · 08-03-2012, 12:01 AM

Stick a magnet to it yet?..looks like brass to me..but you dont brass plate ali..dont even know if there is such a thing..we do tin n zinc n gold plating but i doubt its gold plated

**eesakiwi** · 08-03-2012, 01:05 AM

You would 'Know' if its gold because of its weight. A chunk the size of a cigerette packet would need both hands to pick up.

It probably anodised Ali I guess, light as a feather. (I hope its Gold!)

**1776Patriotism** · 08-03-2012, 03:23 AM

I know people gold plate electronic components for different performance reasons . Take it to a cash for gold store and have them acid test it. You might get lucky and sell it while your there. The trouble is that unless you find a few pounds of the stuff and recover the gold yourself there's not much you can do with it. Around here at least, the smelters won't take plating. Lots o luck!

**Dunemaul** · 08-03-2012, 03:36 AM

If its real im sure Barren would pay you better the a cash for gold place smh,

I feel a pic does justice for those places:

**scrapperben** · 08-03-2012, 07:23 AM

I've noticed a few of them already in pc's myself, just went out and pulled one out,
they look real nice on the board but in hand it's obvious it's just gold coloured aluminium.
there's no reason a heat sink would be gold plated, they just sit there and don't contact anything
appart from what the're sitting on.

But I love heat sinks and i'm going to be stacking some aluminium in the form of heat sinks.
they'll be like fancy bullion bars, too pretty to sell for scrap prices I think.
have seen blue ones and pretty sure I saw a hot looking red one aswell.

**BarrenRealms007** · 08-03-2012, 10:04 AM

It is more than likely anodized aluminum. There is a process for removing the anodized coating so you will have clean aluminum to carry in but it is dangerous so I will not mention it here. If you want to test it cut a small corner off and put it in a small container of hydrochloric acid (HCL) and let it set for a few days, aluminum can react violently with HCL so do not heat and do not close container tightly because of the gasses that are produced. Please do not try this at home.

**BuckStacyBuck** · 08-03-2012, 10:37 AM

apparently there are gold plated heat sinks out there. mostly geared towards people who build their own top notch computers and gotta have that 'wow' factor. but unless it looks like the picture in this link or the pic posted above by dunemaul it's more than likely just a normal aluminum sink thats gold colored.
still would like to see a photo of it though.

Zalman CNPS3100G Gold FHS Heatsink - FrostyTech.com

**totalfish** · 08-07-2012, 05:03 AM

yeah...no gold for the fish. I really didn't think so. But I don't know so very much about computer manufacturing. Maybe I could still find a platinum compressor in a refridgerator someday. hehehe!