K9A2 CF different versions

For users of the K9A2 CF mainboard, please be aware that there are two versions of this board, V1 and V2.

V1 boards look like this:

If your board looks like this, without a heatsink assembly covering the mosfets (to the left of the CPU socket in the above picture), then your board does NOT support any CPU above 95w (look under the Wattage heading). The CPU will appear to work normally, but over time, the mosfets will burn out, and your board will no longer function.

This is a known issue (not necessarily MSI's fault, at the time of designing the board) related solely to the mosfets used (the board functions perfectly normally with a suitable CPU), and we have no idea why MSI have removed references to this from that product page.

K9A2 CF boards with a heatsink assembly covering these mosfets (and also with a sticker stating 'K9A2 CF V2' above the second PCI-E slot) have no problem using CPUs rated at over 95w.

Adding a mosfet cooler to the V1 board is utterly pointless and will not act as a work around. Also as both boards use the same BIOS, upgrading to a newer BIOS will not help also.

You can view this article online at:
https://forum-en.msi.com/faq/article/k9a2-cf-different-versions