ASUS K7M User’s Manual 25
3. HARDWARE SETUP
CPU
3. H/W SETUP
3.6 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
NOTE: The following pictures are provided for reference purposes only. The ap-
pearance of your retention mechanism and fan may be different from the following
examples.
Your motherboard provides a Slot A connector for an AMD Athlon™ processor.
3.6.2 Heatsinks
The recommended heatsinks (see section on recommended heatsinks for AMD
Athlon™ processors for more information) for the processors are those with three-
pin fans that can be connected to the fan connectors on the motherboard.
WARNING! Be sure that there is sufficient air circulation across the processor’s
heatsink by regularly checking that your CPU fan is working. Without sufficient
circulation, the processor could overheat and damage both the processor and the
motherboard. At least one fan, aside from the processor cooling fan, must be
installed in the back of the system case, drawing air over the processor, and
exhausting the air out the back of the case.
AMD Athlon™ processor with heatsink and fan (top view)
Your motherboard comes preinstalled
with a Universal Retention Mechanism
(URM). The URM supports the AMD
Athlon™ processor.
Universal Retention Mechanism (URM)
3.6.1 Universal Retention Mechanism