3rd + 4th RAM slots not working?

Greetings,

I've been up and down, through and through looking for a solution to a problem I'm facing with a pc build I started last year and have been upgrading piece by piece ever since. The most recent upgrade on the list was a new OS and an extra 4 gigs (for a total of 4x2gb) of RAM. After installing Windows 7, and getting my new RAM, I installed just three sticks to test a boot. I got to my desktop without any problem. Checking system properties showed that I had my 6 gigs installed and everything seemed OK. I shut down the computer and installed the fourth stick. Nothing. From then on I have never been able to boot with any RAM sticks in the third or fourth slots ever again. In fact, while troubleshooting the issue, my Win7 installation/hard drives managed to get corrupted to the point of needing to reformat.

A few notes:
1. One of each (new and old) RAM in the first and second slot works fine, so this leads me to believe it isn't a compatibility issue.
2. I took out one of my crossfired HD 4870's and still nothing - so I doubt it's a PSU problem.
3. Updating the BIOS did nothing, neither did resetting all clocks and settings to defaults.
4. The fact that I had to reformat everything seems to cancel out any possible existing software incompatibilities.
5. Yes, paired RAM sticks are in the correct color-coded DIMM slots.
6. Asus technical phone support guy claimed it's my CPU that has a bad memory controller. He jumped to this conclusion rather quickly however (within 2 minutes), and from what I've read then none of the slots should be working.
7. Although my newer set of RAM isn't on the QVL, it is working 100% effectively in my computer right now, but only because they are both in the first two DIMM slots.
8. Changing the voltage and timings to the lower RAM's doesn't do anything either. And I'll say it again, even if I use one of each type of RAM it's totally fine as long as it's in the first two slots - even without modifying the BIOS RAM settings. To break it down:

Matched pair of old RAM in first two slots = Fine
Matched pair of new RAM in first two slots = Fine
One of each type RAM in first two slots = Fine
Any time ANY RAM stick is in the 3rd or 4th slot (even if I'm NOT using the first 2 slots) = Can't boot

Let me know if I'm just being stubborn, but I figure if the two different types of RAM can coexist peacefully in the first two slots, that it isn't a RAM compatibility issue. Everything seems to point to faulty DIMM slots, at least to me.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103649
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131366
RAM pt1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227297
RAM pt2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211409

If there's any more information I can give or forgot, please let me know, and thanks a billion for getting this far!

 

The link you provided for your mainboard is not good so I can't confirm this but most mainboards that have 4 slots are setup to run dual channel RAM. Normally to be in dual channel, one matched pair needs to be in slots 1 and 3. The second matched pair would need to be in slots 2 and 4. If you put a matched pair in slots 1 and 2 they will usually run but in single channel mode. It may not work properly if you put the matched pairs in slots 3 and 4.

 

Sorry these should be the correct links:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366
RAM pt1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297
RAM pt2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211409

And no possible combination of the four sticks will work if anything is in the third or fourth slot.

 

I looked at the manual for the board you identified. On page 30, it shows the configuration for the memory. My earlier description was incorrect for this board. Slots 1 and 2 would be used for one matched pair and slots 2 and 3 would be used for the second matched pair.

I know you said no combination works but I needed to point that out for anyone else reading this thread.

I suspect incompatibility between the two brands of RAM. The timing of the two sets you have is different and the manual cautions against that. On many mainboards, it's not uncommon to need to have RAM in the first set of slots for the second set of slots to work.