How do i start a CPU collection

[Koozman]

Any and all info is greatly apprecciated

[Koozman]

what are the price ranges

[CPUShack]

$1 for a common 486 to well over $300 for a grey C4004 or a C4040

[chipcollector]

Only a handful of cpu's reach over $300, but don't worry about those. Really good ones are between $10-$50. You should look around at scrap yards to find old computers and boards, there lay a-plenty

[pphillips12]

What you should collect depends on your collecting goals and how much you are willing to spend.

The single highest price paid for a CPU to date was $1,185.00 for
what was probably the best known example of an Intel C4004 w/gray traces on EBAY, May-18-2003.

A handful of other really nice C4004 w/gray traces have sold for $700-$900 over the last few years.

There are other chips that have sold for $500-$900 on EBAY and in private sales between collectors over the last few years, chips like the purple Intel C8080A, MC8080A/B, C8080, C8080B, and C4040.

If you are trying to build a world class collection and have $5K-$10K
to spend I would recommend going after the rarest chips first before
they become even more expensive.

If on the other hand, you want to work your way up to the really rare
chips, then start with the more common chips, look for deals, and make good trades.

Another option is to concentrate on PGA processors like the 80186 thru Pentium processors. Some of these are hard to find but overall, the prices are not as high as the 4004 thru 8088 processors.

The early non-Intel processors are also interesting. The prices are not
as high as the early Intel chips but this seems to be changing as more
collectors are collecting the early non-Intel processors.

The there's all the other chips. Many collectors only collector processors, but more are starting to also collect early RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, support circuits and microcontrollers.

[CPUShack]

[gmanbc]

All good advice above but if you want to get off to a quick start on some really rare chips then find some of the chips I am missing on my site and I will trade with you I am missing a lot of common chips from the 1970s and will trade you a C4004 for even "P" and "D" version of chips that I don't already have. Of course this won't be a one for one exchange but you can find a lot of the chips I am missing for free or for very cheap.

I am looking for the chips in black on the main page of the link below.

Lee
gmanbc
http://www.vintagechiptrader.com/Collection.htm

Oh yea! The first thing you need to do is buy the Intel Collectors Guide sold by George Phillips. He should be putting it up for sale soon. Good Luck on you collection!

[wepwawet]

Be patient, especially on ebay.

ok, this hint hurts me as a seller but it is as it is.
The very expensive chips are sometimes available very cheap, even when those cheap ones are not NOS (btw, I personally prefer the smell of use, NOS is not authentic for me).

Just an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5167434679&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

Contact sellers and work out trades, you may be surprised what you can save when you trade outside ebay.

When you decided what to collect post a wishlist - and it makes it easier for sellers when you post an offer, you may get more response then.

I needed four years from a situation like yours to become a seller of chips I never expected to own.

If you are interested, I make some pictures of cheap (because scratched, desoldered...) chips, old Intels and non-Intels (70ies and 80ies) that might be a interesting cruise through early packages and chip designs.

Last thing, however your collection will grow, enjoy it!