IBM Multi-Chip / Thermal Conduction Modules
Turn it over and look at the pin field — bright yellow pins plus white ceramic with a legible IBM part number and serial is a $400–800 collector item; grey tinned pins on an anonymous module is ~$150 of gold locked in moly-filled ceramic no small refiner will accept.
How to spot it
A thick white or ivory multilayer-ceramic slab 90–130 mm square and 5–10 mm thick, with a dense grid of thousands of pins underneath (1,800 on a 3081-era 33-layer TCM, 2,772 on the 63-layer ES/9000). Topside is either bare chip sites with C4 solder balls or a machined aluminium hat with internal copper pistons and a helium fill port. Weight 2–5 kg. Marked with IBM part and FRU numbers, date codes and serials. From IBM 308X, 3090, 4381 and ES/9000 mainframes, plus Amdahl, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Cray equivalents.
Metal content
| Metal | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1–5 g per module ≈ 0.3–0.7 g/lb | 2,772 pins plus two thin-film top layers. Lower grade than ordinary gold-plated pins |
| Copper | ~48 g/lb | Spring-loaded pistons, hat and helium seal, 0.2–1.5 lb per module |
| Base metal | Mo internal wiring, 30–120 g | Molybdenum paste, unrecoverable from sintered ceramic. Pb C4 balls 5–40 g are a hazard, not value |
At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $65.8 per pound of contained metal — Gold 0.5 g = $65.3, Copper 48 g = $0.51. A refiner paying $41 returns about 62% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.
Safe removal
Working temperature: Hot air 300–350 °C for C4 balls
TCMs unbolt from the board with a clamping frame and a large hex or Torx driver; they are heavy, so support them. Do not pry the hat off if selling as a collectible — an intact hat is a large part of the value. For refining (not recommended), pull or shear the pins at the ceramic and process them as high-grade gold-plated pins; hot air at 300–350 °C releases the C4 balls and top metallisation.
Hazards
NEVER dry sweep or use compressed air on a scrapping bench. HEPA-vac or wet-wipe only.
NEVER put BeCu in a grinder, a sandblaster, or a melt.
NEVER dry-cut boards indoors without extraction.
NEVER puncture, drain, burn or bin a suspect unit. Burning PCBs produces dioxins and furans.
Before you scrap it
The common trap
Questions
How much gold is in ibm multi-chip / thermal conduction modules?
Gold: 1–5 g per module ≈ 0.3–0.7 g/lb. Copper: ~48 g/lb. At current spot that is about $65.8 of contained metal per pound.
How do you identify ibm multi-chip / thermal conduction modules?
Turn it over and look at the pin field — bright yellow pins plus white ceramic with a legible IBM part number and serial is a $400–800 collector item ; grey tinned pins on an anonymous module is ~$150 of gold locked in moly-filled ceramic no small refiner will accept.
How do you remove ibm multi-chip / thermal conduction modules safely?
TCMs unbolt from the board with a clamping frame and a large hex or Torx driver; they are heavy, so support them. Do not pry the hat off if selling as a collectible — an intact hat is a large part of the value. For refining (not recommended), pull or shear the pins at the ceramic and process them as high-grade gold-plated pins; hot air at 300–350 °C releases the C4 balls and top metallisation.
Is ibm multi-chip / thermal conduction modules worth more working than as scrap?
Sell intact — typically 1.5–4× net refining return, closer to 6× once the refiner's ceramic-processing charges are counted. These are iconic computing artefacts with a real museum and collector market at $300–800; a TCM with its original carrier sells at the top of the range.
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