New
#11
Well, I hate losing that much, so if I can't fix it another way, I'll go with that. They did have the specs in the mobo manual about how to stick four sticks in, which is why it's spread the way it is in the available slots, but I'll go back and see what needs to be done to take it down to 12 or 3 slots. 12 will certainly be better than 4 and 8 which is what ends up usually posting after boot.
As far as the BIOS...eeeeh... I get really nervous about messing with BIOS, so no, I haven't updated it. I guess I'll have to see how I do that. I did read that this motherboard had a way to restore if it didn't work, so I guess that's where I go next.
Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like no matter what it's not going to be an easy or desirable fix.
Laura