Socket 462 is used by Athlon, Athlon XP, Duron and Sempron socket 462 processors and its fixation is similar to that of older processors (Pentium, Pentium III, Celeron and AMD K6), therefore the next instructions also work for those old processors.
 
Using a cotton swab, put a small amount of thermal grease on the processor. Don’t put too much grease, because the excess can make the heat transfer worse instead of better.

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Figure 15: Apply a small amount of grease on the processor.

Don’t worry about covering the whole area of the processor (pink part) because the cooler pressure itself will make it uniform.

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Figure 16: Correct amount of thermal grease.

Next, carefully install the cooler over the processor. Notice that socket 462 has a side bigger than the other: the side next to the processor installation lever is larger than the opposite side. Coolers for socket 462 will also have a side bigger than the other. If you pay attention, one of the sides of the lock that fixes the cooler to the socket is longer than the other. Therefore the longer side should be facing the larger side of the socket (the side of the lever), while the shorter side should be facing the smaller side of the socket.

A common mistake when installing coolers on socket 462 processors is installing the cooler ”inverted“, i.e., rotating 180º in relation to its correct position.

In some PC cases it may be necessary to remove the motherboard in order to install everything with no problems.

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Figure 17: Put in position and fix one side.

Then, using a screwdriver, fix the cooler. Use the screwdriver as a lever to fix the cooler clip to the socket. Don’t make excessive pressure on the cooler to avoid damages to the processor. Be careful not to let the screwdriver slip and hit the motherboard.

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Figure 18: Finishing the cooler fixation.

After fixing the cooler, connect the fan power plug.

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Figure 19: Cooler correctly installed.