In a retired server, the value is concentrated
Chassis, motherboards, power supplies and fans go to material recovery: a few euros per machine, at best. Most of the value sits in two families of components, both easy to extract:
- The SSDs: enterprise SAS and U.2, NVMe, "data centre" SATA. Bought per terabyte, whether they work or not — the value is in the NAND chips, not in the state of the controller.
- The ECC memory: DDR4/DDR5 RDIMMs and LRDIMMs, bought per piece by generation. A dual-socket server often carries 12 to 24 modules.
- As a side note: RAID card cache modules and on-board eMMC modules, taken on the same basis as loose chips.
What a typical rack brings in
A recent-generation 2U server commonly carries 8 to 24 SSDs of 1.92 to 7.68 TB and 256 to 1,024 GB of ECC RAM. At the scale of a full rack, the terabytes quickly run into the hundreds — and the trade price list is progressive: the larger the cumulative volume of a format, the higher the price per terabyte.
Public prices per format are shown on the SAS / U.2 enterprise SSD, NVMe SSD and RAM modules pages; verified business accounts also get the volume tiers on the trade price list page.
Strip the servers yourself or send complete trays?
Pulling the SSDs out of a server takes a few minutes: hot-swap trays at the front, memory modules reachable with the lid off. Stripping the hardware yourself reduces the shipped weight and simplifies the inventory — it is the recommended route.
For large volumes where internal dismantling is not an option, describe the configuration in the quote (server models, number and capacity of the drives, amount of RAM) and attach photos: pallet collection can be arranged above 30 kg. In every case, only the memory components fetch the full price: there is no point shipping the chassis.
The data: deal with it before collection
Decommissioning is first of all a security matter: production racks hold customer data, backups, virtual machines. Wipe or destroy the media according to your internal policy before shipping — manufacturer commands (sanitize), cryptographic erasure for encrypted volumes, or physical destruction for the most sensitive media. Our guide details the methods: wiping an SSD before parting with it.
Media received at Recychips are dismantled in our workshop: the chips are reused as components, no drive is resold as is and no data is read. The holder's regulatory obligations (WEEE, waste register, certificate) are covered in our guide on business obligations.
Organising the batch to get paid fast
- Sort by format: SAS/U.2, NVMe and SATA SSDs, RAM by generation (DDR4, DDR5). The label is enough, no need to test.
- Count the drives and note the nominal capacities — they set the price, not working order.
- Create the quote online: one line per format and capacity, price calculated instantly.
- Pack by type in rigid boxes (anti-static bags for the RAM), with the quote reference inside the parcel. Free shipping from 20 TB (estimated).
- On arrival, each batch is inspected; the final offer is confirmed in your customer account, then paid by bank transfer.
