Reference · Component Guide

What to Keep, What to Discard

The 24 PCB component types that consistently carry recoverable gold, silver, platinum, or palladium. Each entry shows what the part looks like, which metals it contains, a keep-versus-discard tier, and approximate value ranges per unit and per kilogram.

Metal
Value tier

Showing 24 of 24 components

Dual in-line package IC chip with gold-plated pins
Premium

ICs

Gold-plated DIP IC pins (DIP-14 / DIP-16 / DIP-40)
Premium — always keep
AU· highAG· trace

Per unit

$0.30–$2.50

Per kg

$4,200–$6,800

Verdict

Keep always

Ceramic CPU with gold-plated pin grid array underside
Premium

Chips

Ceramic-windowed CPU / processor
Premium — always keep
AU· highPT· trace

Per unit

$5–$45

Per kg

$6,200–$9,400

Verdict

Keep always

Ball grid array CPU with visible solder ball array
Premium

Chips

BGA / underfilled CPU
Premium — always keep
AU· mediumAG· high

Per unit

$0.80–$8

Per kg

$3,400–$5,200

Verdict

Keep always

DDR RAM module showing gold-plated edge connector fingers
Premium

Memory

Gold-finger RAM module (DIMM)
Premium — always keep
AU· highAG· trace

Per unit

$0.15–$1.20

Per kg

$3,800–$6,500

Verdict

Keep always

PCI slot edge connector with gold-plated contacts
High

Connectors

PCI / PCIe slot edge connector
High — usually keep
AU· mediumAG· low

Per unit

$0.40–$2.80

Per kg

$3,000–$5,000

Verdict

Usually keep

Multilayer ceramic chip capacitor beige body with silver terminations
Medium

Capacitors

Ceramic MLCC capacitor (X7R / X5R)
Medium — keep if concentrated
AG· highPD· trace

Per unit

$0.001–$0.02

Per kg

$1,800–$3,400

Verdict

Keep if concentrated

Row of small pogo-pin test points on a circuit board
Medium

Connectors

Platinum / palladium probe-pin test points
Medium — keep if concentrated
PT· highPD· medium

Per unit

$0.10–$0.90

Per kg

$5,500–$8,800

Verdict

Keep if concentrated

Metal-can crystal oscillator with palladium finish
High

Chips

Crystal oscillator (Pd-bearing)
High — usually keep
PD· highAG· low

Per unit

$0.05–$0.45

Per kg

$4,000–$7,000

Verdict

Usually keep

Hard disk drive controller PCB with gold-plated connector pads
High

ICs

Hard-drive controller PCB
High — usually keep
AU· mediumAG· highPD· low

Per unit

$0.50–$2.50

Per kg

$2,200–$3,600

Verdict

Usually keep

Network switch PCB with multiple RJ45 port shields
High

ICs

Network switch / router mainboard
High — usually keep
AU· mediumAG· highPD· low

Per unit

$0.40–$2.20

Per kg

$2,200–$3,800

Verdict

Usually keep

Server registered ECC DDR memory module with thick gold fingers
Premium

Memory

Server-grade DIMM (registered / ECC)
Premium — always keep
AU· highAG· trace

Per unit

$0.30–$2.00

Per kg

$4,400–$7,200

Verdict

Keep always

Older SIMM memory module with visible gold contact strip
High

Memory

SIMM-72 / older 30-pin SIMM
High — usually keep
AU· highAG· low

Per unit

$0.10–$0.65

Per kg

$3,200–$5,400

Verdict

Usually keep

Solid-state relay component with four screw terminals
Medium

Relays

Solid-state relay (SSR)
Medium — keep if concentrated
AG· mediumAU· low

Per unit

$0.20–$1.20

Per kg

$1,800–$2,800

Verdict

Keep if concentrated

Reed relay with glass envelope containing metal reed contacts
Medium

Relays

Reed relay
Medium — keep if concentrated
AG· highAU· low

Per unit

$0.05–$0.50

Per kg

$2,400–$4,200

Verdict

Keep if concentrated

TO-220 packaged voltage regulator with three leads
Low

Power

Voltage regulator IC (TO-220, LM-series)
Low — bulk extraction only
AG· lowAU· trace

Per unit

$0.001–$0.02

Per kg

$600–$1,200

Verdict

Bulk only

Yellow-and-black surface-mount tantalum electrolytic capacitor
Medium

Capacitors

Tantalum capacitor
Medium — keep if concentrated
AG· mediumPD· low

Per unit

$0.02–$0.20

Per kg

$2,000–$3,400

Verdict

Keep if concentrated

FPGA chip in fine-pitch BGA or QFP package
Premium

Chips

FPGA chip
Premium — always keep
AU· highAG· medium

Per unit

$1.20–$12

Per kg

$4,000–$7,400

Verdict

Keep always

Graphics processing unit with high-pin-count BGA underside
Premium

Chips

GPU with solder-bumped BGA
Premium — always keep
AU· highAG· medium

Per unit

$1.00–$9.00

Per kg

$3,800–$6,200

Verdict

Keep always

High-density LRDIMM server memory stick with heat-spreader
Premium

Memory

LRDIMM (load-reduced) server memory module
Premium — always keep
AU· highAG· trace

Per unit

$0.40–$2.60

Per kg

$4,800–$7,800

Verdict

Keep always

Chip-and-PIN smart-card reader contact-pad array
High

Connectors

Smart-card contact-pad reader
High — usually keep
AU· highAG· low

Per unit

$0.50–$3.50

Per kg

$6,000–$9,200

Verdict

Usually keep

Server-grade fibre-channel NIC with SFP cages and heatsink
High

ICs

Fibre-channel / SFP+ server NIC
High — usually keep
AU· mediumAG· highPD· low

Per unit

$0.60–$3.20

Per kg

$2,600–$4,400

Verdict

Usually keep

Audio-grade DAC or op-amp IC with gold bond-wire lid
Premium

Chips

Audio DAC / op-amp (Au bond-wire lid)
Premium — always keep
AU· highAG· medium

Per unit

$0.80–$6.00

Per kg

$5,000–$8,200

Verdict

Keep always

Cluster of through-hole polymer aluminum electrolytic capacitors
Medium

Capacitors

Polymer / through-hole aluminum capacitor bank
Medium — keep if concentrated
AG· highPD· low

Per unit

$0.05–$0.60

Per kg

$1,600–$3,000

Verdict

Keep if concentrated

Workstation or mobile GPU module with delidded BGA substrate
Premium

Chips

GPU module — delidded BGA substrate
Premium — always keep
AU· highAG· medium

Per unit

$1.50–$14

Per kg

$4,200–$7,400

Verdict

Keep always

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