4 black circles on athlon cpu's

[dml54]

Can anyone tell me what the 4 black circle things are that are on the athlon xp cpus?
Are they neccessary?

 

[Jeff7181]

They're pads that he heatsink rests on before you clamp it down... they're there to prevent damage to the core during heatsink installation, although so morons still manage to mess it up and chip the core.

Don't remove them.

 

[Budman]

You might need this.

SocketA CPU and heatsink installation guide