Ceramic CPU — gold lid + gold pins

All three at once: brittle ceramic body + yellow gold lid + full grid of gold pins. Ceramic that's cold and chips like a floor tile, not warm plastic. Era is roughly 1975–1998.

Au 2.0–3.5 g/lbAg 0.5–2 g/lbBase Kovar

eBay typical$500–650per lb

Refiner pays$350per lb

Metal in it$355per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencehighof the yield figures

How to spot it

Square or rectangular white, grey, tan or purple-brown alumina body. Gold-plated Kovar lid brazed on top, gold PGA pins underneath, visible gold at the pad ring. Intel 386/486/Pentium/Pentium Pro, AMD K5/K6 ceramic, Cyrix, Motorola 68k, Sun/DEC/IBM workstation chips. Look for CERAMIC PGA, 883, M38510 or JAN markings on industrial parts.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Gold	2.0–3.5 g/lb	lid plating, pins, cavity traces
Silver	0.5–2 g/lb	Ag-Cu seal braze
Base metal	Kovar, Cu, Ni	alumina body is dead weight

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $355 per pound of contained metal — Gold 2.7 g = $352, Silver 1.2 g = $2.28. A refiner paying $350 returns about 99% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: Board preheat 250–280 °C

They're through-hole in a socket or soldered. Lever the ZIF socket and lift, or preheat the board to 250–280 °C and pull straight up with pliers. Sell whole — do not pry the lid off, you gain nothing and lose the buyer's grading.

Before you scrap it

Check the sSpec/part number first. Specific 486DX, K6-III and Socket 8 SKUs are worth $65–300 to collectors versus about $25 as scrap.

The common trap

The ceramic body is most of the weight and contains nothing. That's why a chip with visible gold everywhere still only assays 2–3 g/lb. Also: many gold-coloured lids are tungsten or nickel metallisation, not gold.

Questions

How much gold is in ceramic cpu — gold lid + gold pins?

Gold: 2.0–3.5 g/lb. Silver: 0.5–2 g/lb. At current spot that is about $355 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify ceramic cpu — gold lid + gold pins?

All three at once: brittle ceramic body + yellow gold lid + full grid of gold pins . Ceramic that's cold and chips like a floor tile, not warm plastic. Era is roughly 1975–1998.

How do you remove ceramic cpu — gold lid + gold pins safely?

Is ceramic cpu — gold lid + gold pins worth more working than as scrap?

Check the sSpec/part number first. Specific 486DX, K6-III and Socket 8 SKUs are worth $65–300 to collectors versus about $25 as scrap.

Related in Processors

Pentium Pro Processors · $500–700/lb Au 0.25–0.45 g eachAg trace S Ceramic CPU — no gold lid (black top) Processors · $130–250/lb Au 1.0–1.8 g/lbAg 0.3–1 g/lb A AMD ceramic with aluminium top (K6) Processors · $80–150/lb Au 0.7–1.2 g/lbBase Al plate B IBM Multi-Chip / Thermal Conduction Modules Processors · $36–115/lb Au 1–5 g per module ≈ 0.3–0.7 g/lbCu ~48 g/lbBase Mo internal wiring B Plastic CPU with gold pins (P4, Athlon, S370/462/478) Processors · $30–90/lb Au 0.5–1.0 g/lbAg trace–0.3 g/lbCu IHS on P4 B Slot 1 / Slot A cartridge CPU Processors · $60–120/lb Au 0.3–0.75 g/lb wholeAg trace–0.5 g/lb B

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