Pentium Pro

Unmistakable oversized dual-cavity rectangular ceramic package — much bigger than any other Socket 8 chip, with a second cavity for the on-package L2 cache. Gold lid, gold pins.

Au 0.25–0.45 g eachAg trace

eBay typical$500–700per lb

Refiner pays$200per lb

Metal in it$341per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencehighof the yield figures

How to spot it

Socket 8, 1995–1998. Rectangular rather than square, roughly 60 g each. Gold lid over both cavities. Marked PENTIUM PRO with an SL-code. Came out of workstations and early servers.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Gold	0.25–0.45 g each	0.33 g is the reliable midpoint
Silver	trace	seal braze

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $341 per pound of contained metal — Gold 2.6 g = $339, Silver 0.8 g = $1.52. A refiner paying $200 returns about 59% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: Cold — socket lever

Lift from the socket. Nothing else needed.

Before you scrap it

Boxed and rare SKUs run $65–300 each, and a 200 MHz 256K has been listed at four figures. Always check the SL-code before it goes in the scrap bin.

The common trap

"A gram of gold per Pentium Pro" is the single most repeated wrong number in this hobby. Real yield is 0.25–0.45 g. Sellers price them on the myth.

Questions

How much gold is in pentium pro?

Gold: 0.25–0.45 g each. Silver: trace. At current spot that is about $341 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify pentium pro?

Unmistakable oversized dual-cavity rectangular ceramic package — much bigger than any other Socket 8 chip, with a second cavity for the on-package L2 cache. Gold lid, gold pins.

How do you remove pentium pro safely?

Lift from the socket. Nothing else needed.

Is pentium pro worth more working than as scrap?

Boxed and rare SKUs run $65–300 each, and a 200 MHz 256K has been listed at four figures. Always check the SL-code before it goes in the scrap bin.

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 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 Slot 1 / Slot A cartridge CPU Processors · $60–120/lb Au 0.3–0.75 g/lb wholeAg trace–0.5 g/lb B

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