Modern lidded CPU (LGA775+, Core i, Ryzen)

The lid is dull silvery nickel, not yellow. Underneath is either flat gold pads (Intel LGA, AMD AM5) or gold pins (AMD AM2–AM4). AMD PGA parts beat Intel LGA — pins hold far more plated metal than flat pads.

Au 0.10–0.30 g/lbCu 15–25 g per chip

eBay typical$11–24per lb

Refiner pays$12per lb

Metal in it$23.7per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencemedof the yield figures

How to spot it

Nickel-plated copper heat spreader on a green or black substrate, laser-etched model and batch number. Flip-chip construction means there is no gold bond wire inside at all.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Gold	0.10–0.30 g/lb	LGA pads 0.01–0.025 g ea; AM4 PGA 0.03–0.05 g ea
Copper	15–25 g per chip	the IHS is the real metal

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $23.7 per pound of contained metal — Gold 0.18 g = $23.5, Copper 9 g = $0.096, Silver 0.05 g = $0.095. A refiner paying $12 returns about 51% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Nothing to remove. The IHS mass roughly halves the apparent grade of a lidded lot, which is why de-lidded chips assay about 2× better per pound.

Before you scrap it

Scrap value ~$0.50/chip. Tested resale: i5/i7 $15–80, Ryzen $60–250, server Xeons $10–150. Testing is the entire margin here. A bulk lot of 655 untested i3s sold for 84¢ each; the same chips tested individually go for $8–25.

The common trap

Scrapping these is almost always the wrong call — see the resale note. As pure scrap they're worth about 35–60 cents each.

Questions

How much gold is in modern lidded cpu (lga775+, core i, ryzen)?

Gold: 0.10–0.30 g/lb. Copper: 15–25 g per chip. At current spot that is about $23.7 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify modern lidded cpu (lga775+, core i, ryzen)?

The lid is dull silvery nickel, not yellow. Underneath is either flat gold pads (Intel LGA, AMD AM5) or gold pins (AMD AM2–AM4). AMD PGA parts beat Intel LGA — pins hold far more plated metal than flat pads.

How do you remove modern lidded cpu (lga775+, core i, ryzen) safely?

Nothing to remove. The IHS mass roughly halves the apparent grade of a lidded lot, which is why de-lidded chips assay about 2× better per pound.

Is modern lidded cpu (lga775+, core i, ryzen) worth more working than as scrap?

Scrap value ~$0.50/chip. Tested resale: i5/i7 $15–80, Ryzen $60–250, server Xeons $10–150. Testing is the entire margin here. A bulk lot of 655 untested i3s sold for 84¢ each; the same chips tested individually go for $8–25.

Related in Processors

Ceramic CPU — gold lid + gold pins Processors · $500–650/lb Au 2.0–3.5 g/lbAg 0.5–2 g/lbBase Kovar S 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

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