Are hard drives worth scrapping?

These boards fall under premium grade of circuit board, when scrapped. They are worth more than Computer Motherboards due to the higher density of precious metals in its packing. The scrap price of Hard Drives depends on the market rate of gold and other precious metals including silver, platinum and palladium.

Are old hard drives worth any money?

An old hard drive will only fetch a fraction of its purchase price if you try to sell it, but it still can have some value to you if you keep it around. According to a Google study on hard drive failure, the failure rate as much as triples on a drive that is more than three years old.

Are there any precious metals in hard drives?

All hard drives contain precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and Palladium. While they contain precious metals in very little amount, they still have a value.

How much gold is in a computer hard drive?

Some other sources estimate that your average computer contains about 1/5th of a gram, or about $12 worth, of gold in them.

How much gold is in a hard disk?

There is no gold on the disk platters or any of the disk mechanism. Gold is present on most electronic circuit boards.

Tearing down and scrapping out Hard Drives for gold, aluminum and other metals.

How much are hard drive platters worth?

1/8 24kt a typical 5 ounce 5.25 inch platter is worth about $60-$80. The aluminium platinum platters with the rhodium coating in some quantum Bigfoot drives can fetch over $400 each.

What can you do with old hard drives?

How much is a hard drive worth?

As such, there's good demand for used western digital hard drives. While most WD hard drives sell for ~$10 to $75, high capacity drives and WD SSDs go for higher.

How much platinum is in a hard drive platter?

times the 30 nm thickness (3x10^-6 cm) is 2.0x10-4 cm^3, times the (optimistic) 50% Pd, times the density of Pt (21.45 g/cm^3) and I estimate one platter has at most 2.2 mg Pt.

How many HDD boards make a pound?

it takes about 15 to 20 boards to make a pound.

Do hard drives have platinum?

Hard drives are among the most easily identified of all computer components. They are encased in metal and look fatter than circuit boards. They look, in fact, kind of like miniature automotive catalytic converters, which also contain platinum.

Why are old hard drives expensive?

Some parts are still needed, rare and expensive. My guess is that drive might be one of them. A lot of machine shops and other manufacturing places have old equipment. It is much cheaper to keep these old computers going than replacing their whole manufacturing line with new equipment.

Should I destroy hard drive before recycling?

Wipe It and Recycle

If you'd rather recycle the hard drive rather than physically destroying it, it is absolutely necessary to wipe it before dropping it at a recycling center. Wiping a hard drive destroys the data stored on it. To find out how to dispose of hard drives, you need a proven data destruction program.

How do I get rid of old external hard drives?

Contact your local waste management company for more information on where and how you can safely dispose of your old drive. Some electronic stores will also accept old electronics and safely dispose of them for you. If you want to sell your old external hard drive, some computer repair shops may buy from you.

Does Best Buy destroy old hard drives?

There are numerous ways to destroy a hard drive from wiping it to demolishing it. Once the hard drive is removed, your local Best Buy can recycle the unit for you. Items with LCD screens do require a $10 fee for hazardous materials handling but in return we give you a $10 Best Buy gift card.

How much palladium is in a PC?

A study out of the Harare Institute of Technology also listed that printed circuit boards contain, “about 20 wt% copper, 0.04 wt% gold, 0.15 wt% silver, and 0.01 wt% palladium,” with wt% representing percentage by weight.

What metal is a hard drive disk made of?

Hard disks are flat circular plates made of aluminum or glass and coated with a magnetic material.

Is it worth extracting gold from computers?

If you intend to conduct large-scale gold recovery from electronics, then yes, it is worth it. However, if it is a small-scale gold recovery, then you'll get meager profits. The process of physically disassembling gold from electronics and extracting gold isn't a walk in the park.

What electronics have the most gold in them?

Computer CPU's (processors) have the most precious metal value by weight, followed by Memory (RAM) & Circuit Board Fingers / Connectors / Pins, then Circuit Boards (Motherboards), then cables / wires, with hard drives & whole computers being last.

How much gold is in a RAM?

DDR Ram cards? about 1.2 grams gold per 1 kg.

What karat gold is in computers?

Solid gold wire used in Integrated circuit packaging was typically high-purity, 99.99% fine gold (24 karat). All other components (caps, lids, pins & pads) were only gold-plated. Some manufactures have also used aluminum or copper wiring in the past in place of solid gold wiring to cut material costs.

How do I get precious metals out of my computer?

There is some gold in most computer chips, especially older CPUs. Locate and remove any chips that can be removed, including CPU chips and chips that are soldered onto the boards. These can usually be removed by running a flat-blade screwdriver along the legs or by clipping the legs with cutting pliers.