I have a question on a few things as I'm sorting for my next trip. Each question has a picture attached to go with it.

Gold chip gold finger card - Is it required to keep the chip on the board in this situation? The chip itself is worth removing and sorting to its own grade and the board technically remains a gold finger card so in light of boardsort having posts to not remove things, I felt I should ask and sort the board into a different category if necessary.

Display board - technically this is a grading question and kind of in the wrong forum but given my other questions, I didn't want to do two posts. Are these graded as telecom with display removed given the only real thing here is board weight and only ics? Gold contacts on the other side as well. I get lots of these boards. Additionally, these often come with black (epoxy?) Covering the ics. Still dame grade?

Gold fingers? - I get a lot of these boards with gold fingers and many times (not so much this board) they'll be on clear-cut telecom boards. Is there a situation where removing the fingers would make sense?

Telecom 486 - board with or without the 486 is telecom grade. Any shame in removal of the chip to sell the chip online? Worth another 15 - 20 and I've got several boards with high dollar processors that I could sell online.

Think that's all I've got for now, appreciate any help you can offer!

Yes. You can remove socketed chips.
In this case that card is unlikely to get gold finger card.
So the debate is if removing the gold chip is better than high peripheral rate and clean gold fingers.

Yes high telco

These are one of the board types discussed at length including input from Chris directly.
In this case, a gold finger card, this would be low grade. Remove the metal shields for high grade clean.
It’s not telco, but GFC class. I’m confident on this board’s placement as I know the layout.

This is clear cut high telco. Removing the processor won’t change that. I’d also remove the little flash chip in the corner.


The general rules about removing, it’s usually good to remove socketed chips. The only place you need to reconsider that is high telco. Where the debate is chip weight for individual chips. And what the limit of pulling is for being a reduced level.
Removing ceramic chips greatly reduces the weight, but even nickel pin ceramics are worth more than high telco from a scrap point. And yes, those 486 chips still sell well when they work.
I alway pull 890, 960, and 990 chips as well and some sun chips. Apple is another where it’s often better for an experienced tech to desolder working chips from PPC and earlier boards. Same with spark station compatibles.

But now we’re wondering away from your questions.
In your case with you thinking of online sale, again, I’d pull the flash chip too. Good $5-$10 for them.
Or if you have a programmer blank it for $20. These are popular on mini-board systems like Rpie

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From my own sorting runs, I usually leave components on unless a buyer’s grading rules clearly allow removal; it keeps disputes down and saves time. Display-style boards tend to move fine as telecom once the bulky plastics are off, and epoxy-covered ICs haven’t changed my payouts. I only pull gold fingers when they’re unusually thick or on otherwise low-value boards; otherwise the labor isn’t worth it. With older CPUs, I’ve had better luck selling the chips separately when demand is hot—just be consistent so your categories stay clean.
Keeping notes on what sells best helped me streamline decisions, similar to how Internet marketing company 1on1 tracks performance to optimize workflows. Clear records make repeat sorting faster and more predictable.

The 486 is in a HIF socket.
it will take gentle careful effort to push it out, but it will come out

I’m not sure about the gold cap I can’t tell from the image

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