MSI K8T Master2-FAR voids Opteron Warranty?!??

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar (More info?)

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I'm thinking about grabbing this board, as it looks smooth, and
performs well against the likes of Tyan. But a review of the board and
the way the heatsink/CPU fans are set up has me worried. From the
review, at
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_co [...] uel&page=1 :

- --snip--
The third flaw is a bit stranger. It really didn't hit us until we
first tried to install CPU's on this motherboard, and we realized,
"Hey, our heatsinks don't work!". What MSI has done, apparently, is
NOT used AMD's standard Socket-754/940 heatsink retention system,
opting to use a Pentium 4-style (!!) heatsink retention system
instead. What this means is NO standard Athlon64/Opteron heatsink will
work on this motherboard, not even the AMD retail coolers. Not only
does MSI include the incorrect mounting brackets, but they do not
leave the necessary motherboard holes if one wanted to change out to
the correct mounting system.

In order to "fix" this issue, MSI has bundled two compatible copper
CPU coolers with their board. What's even stranger, is that they are
completely different CPU coolers. Not only are they from different
manufacturers, but they have different mounting designs as well! One
of the bundled CPU coolers actually makes you remove the plastic
mounting clips on the motherboard. It's just bizarre, and I can't
understand what MSI is thinking with this situation. To make matters
worse, the bundled CPU coolers are horribly loud, and I had to run
them with +5V adapters (which aren't included, I managed to scrounge
some up) in order to complete my testing with my hearing intact. On
the plus side though, one could use any number of Pentium 4 coolers on
the market for use on the K8T Master2 motherboard, but we can imagine
most (if not all) potential buyers of this board will be confused by
the cooling situation.

Update : We've just been informed that using Pentium 4 coolers, such
as the ones included on the MSI K8T Master2-FAR motherboard, voids the
warranty on AMD Opteron retail CPU's. Keep in mind, this is only on
retail packaged CPU's, OEM CPU's determine warranty breaks in
different ways which is up to each OEM distributor. Still, we
thought it was interesting and well worth mentioning.
- --snip--

Is it just me, but in light of this, using an AMD socket 954 CPU
fan/heatsink will not work on the Master2-FAR board, since it is using
a P4-style system. But using that style of system voids the Opteron
warranty. It makes this out to be a case of Damned if you Do, Damned if
you don't. Buy the board and void the CPU's warranty, or buy another
board, and MSI loses business. So,

1) is there an AMD approved heatsink/CPU fan for this board?
2) Does MSI have the thought of changing the mounting brackets
so socket 754/940 fans/heatsinks can be used?

I'm looking to buy this board, but it sounds like it may be
more hassle than good for the fans. Anyone have any insights on this?

BL.
- --
Brad Littlejohn | Email: tyketto@sbcglobal.net
Unix Systems Administrator, | tyketto@ozemail.com.au
Web + NewsMaster, BOFH.. Smeghead! | http://www.sbcglobal.net/~tyketto
PGP: 1024D/E319F0BF 6980 AAD6 7329 E9E6 D569 F620 C819 199A E319 F0BF

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