Today we are going to see those questions and calculate how many grams and money our processor or an old one that we have at home can be worth.
How and how much do you have?
Gold is used in computer processors due to its unique properties. This precious metal is highly electrically conductive and resistant to corrosion, which makes it an ideal material for contacts and connections in not only these chips but even SIM cards and other PC components.
But let’s get to the point, how much gold does a processor have? Well, in each one it is estimated that its melted quantity would accumulate the 0.2 grams, getting to see some older ones with up to 0.5 gr. Since currently it is used less and less, focusing more on alternatives just as effective, but cheaper than gold. So if your processor is older, it probably contains more.
The amount is quite low, but taking into account that the current gram of gold is quoted at €58, we could talk about between €12 and €29 what we would get from an old processor.
If we add to this the other components of the computer (RAM, graphics card, motherboard, etc.), we could get a good pinch with an old PC. However, it is not so easy to do.
The problem lies in the complexity and danger of doing so. Melting the gold is no problem, but since it is such small amounts embedded in other components, we would have to melt everything, and the rest of the pieces could be highly polluting, many of them contain hazardous materials such as mercury, lead and other heavy metals in addition to time. and knowledge necessary to do it since I doubt that in your house you have a gold smelter at hand.
Likewise, it is likely that your old processor will have more value in the future as a collector’s item than destroying it with what that entails, for a few euros, and the time necessary to disassemble it completely since you were not going to put it directly to melt with the complete tower , and that, although it seems fast, it is not.
So while it is possible to mine gold from an old processor, it is not a cost-effective or practical process for most people. Unless you have access to the necessary knowledge, skills, and equipment, and are willing to bear the associated risks and costs, attempting to smelt electronics gold yourself is not recommended. I’m sure you’ll come up with a better idea for him.
