Does computer chips have 14krt gold inside them?

Are those little pins real solid gold?


You can get more gold out of a used computer than gold ore (rocks with gold in them) compared by oz/weight. It is a good idea to use gold because it is a great conductor (better than silver and copper) and has the advantage of never corroding. It will never rust like iron or turn green like copper.

There is also gold on the connector end of your cellphone (where the charger connects, ect).

They are plated gold, and they are more like pure gold than 14K gold. There's not enough to even scrape them to get a small pile of gold dust. They are like 0.001" thick, if even that. If they were solid gold, there's no way a computer could cost $599. There's plated gold plated on some connectors and card fingers too. Recyclers cut off the gold fingers and the pins to reclaim the gold, but it takes a lot of boards and a lot of processing.

The gold is there because they are a great electrical conductor and doesn't oxidize. Gold plating is also used in some solder plating because it adheres well to copper and solders really well.

On very few processors, they are pure. On most, they are plated. You'd have to process thousands to get a decent amount of gold.

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