Which is better, a silver plated or a gold plated conductor for amemory module? Hint: Consider the memory slot on the motherboard.Which is better, a silver plated or a gold plated conductor for amemory module? Consider the memory slot on the motherboard
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ANSWERS: 4
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They both conduct electricity well, but gold doesn't tarnish so there's less need for maintenance.
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Unless BOTH the chip and the motherboard contacts are gold, there is no real advantage. In fact, one could argue that the dissimilar metals are actually disadvantageous. Which is why it's always amusing when somebody markets a product with "gold plated contacts" OOOOH! Meanwhile, they are taking that gold plated contact and plugging it into something that isn't gold plated anyway. Stupid.
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copper for conductivity and gold for longevity
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For this type of application, gold plating is better. Silver has it's advantages over plain copper conductors: Silver is a better conductor than the copper, but the REAL advantage of silver is that silver oxide is STILL an outstanding conductor...whereas copper oxide is NOT conductive. So when the silver plating on copper conductors oxidizes, it will STILL maintain excellent conductive properties at the connection points. Gold, though not as good a conductor as silver, has the advantage of being highly resistant to corrosion. Because of this, the gold plating is less likely to be depleted by corrosion in high moisture or more corrosive environments. This means the copper conductors it's plated over may be less likely to become exposed over time, and therefore maintain consistently good connections for the life of the component.
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