The Asus K7M was very easy to install. The Asus manual is well written and provides good instruction. My biggest gripe is with the layout of the motherboard. I don't know what Asus was thinking when they put the power connector next to the DIMM slots. Did they not stop to think that overclockers use big heatsinks? By having the power connector on the heatsink side of the Slot A rails, Asus has made it very difficult for the big heatsinks from Alpha and Global Win to be installed. The Alpha P125 completely blocks off the power connector. The Global Win FKK32 will need one of its fans removed to clear the connector.

The largest heatsink/cooler I found that would fit the K7M without blocking off the power connector or needing any mods to fit was the CO-P701 by AMK Services. This cooler just clears the connector and first DIMM slots with a millimeter to spare. Talk about cutting it close. Look for a review of this cooler soon.

While the FSB can be adjusted in software, voltage must be set with jumpers. The placement of these jumpers in the K7M makes them very hard to get at. The three jumpers are located between the Audio Modem Riser connector and the Slot A rail. There is no way for you to get your fingers in there and pull the pins once the Athlon and motherboard is installed. I had to use a pair of small needle nose pliers. By comparison the placement of the FSB jumpers is out in the open and really easy to get at. I wish Asus would have chosen to put the voltage jumpers where the FSB jumpers are. It would simplify life, as I would never use the FSB jumpers because it only has four settings.

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