
The first thing you notice about the CPU
socket is the handle. Unlike a lot of socket 370 handles, the one used by Asus
is bent down to below the level where the CPU mounts. This way you can put on a
big PPGA cooler like those from Alpha or Global Win. This is a really nice touch
and it's good to see the Asus engineers doing their home work.

Here you can see the well thought out layout
of the motherboard. The only questionable move is the placement of the power
supply connector. It's kinda low and may not reach your power supply if you use
an extra tall case. A better spot for it would have been at the top of the
board, like Abit did with their
BX133-RAID.

While most people will be using the Asus
softmenu to overclock their CPU, you can do the same thing with the DIP switches
just above the floppy and IDE inputs. The selection of bus speed is not as great
as the softmenu, and I really can't see why anyone would use it over the
software setup.

It's a snug fit but the big Alpha PPGA cooler
will fit on the CUV4X without any problems. There is lots of space between the
CPU and the DIMM slots, but there is nearly no space to spare on the other side.
The fan header is placed nice, and close right next to the CPU.
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