Nightmare build

So I talked with crucial to set up a RMA. The tech support guy I talked with said that particular type of RAM has been removed from sales do to all the "similar" problems they have had with it. He said it sounds almost certainly that it is the RAM and will be sending me out an upgraded set! 1600MHz!! He also said it was passing MEMTEST due to the RAM is good, but it has a compatibility issue with many mobo bios. All this time and money, and it has been the stinking RAM...LMAO, Well I hope this whole process will help someone else out, and it has taught me a ton about hardware, software, and Windows7. I will for sure post and let everyone know if the new RAM did fix my problem for good.

Deff on the build. Who knows about the wife!! . I'm sure she will be ok once we start to enjoy all the media throughout the house! Thanks to all for your help. I was stuck and you guys gave me a little push. THANKS!!

I have finally got A HTPC that works!! I have had machine running for 2days straight now doing a prime 95 torture test! Works awesome!! (yes it was tested with lots of RAM!!) I am so stoked. I had no idea RAM could be so hard to diagnose. It had to be a RAM compatibility issue. I gave that old ram to my buddy. He ram a torture test on it in his alienware pc......and it works fine for him. Crucial is going to send me a different kind that is "suppose" to be fully compatible for sure. Can you run 2 different makes of RAm?? or will this cause issues also?? The RAM i bought is not crucial. So hopefully I can use them together. BTW if any of you have not checked out XBMC it is def worth checking out. REAL SWEET!! lots of functionality.

Multiple brands of RAM is not often a problem nowadays, so long as the brands match in all the specs--type, voltage, etc.

I'm running 16GB of RAM. 2 Crucial 2x4GB and 2 Kingston 2x4GB. The only thing they have in common is the voltage they work at, 1.65V. Other then that they have different timings and max speed. They run at the lower speed.

Right on. If it does start to cause problems, I know where they r coming from!! LOL. Worst case I have some extra ram for my next build. A small in size PC that I can run from in my bedroom for whatever. Got to get all my rooms in my house connected to pull all this great media now. Thanks for all the help guys!!