Windows 7 keeps losing my RAM

It's only showing 8, and right now that's what the Windows is showing.

laura said:

I tried putting the ram up to 1600 and it locked up. It didn't want to boot like that. I shut the machine down and let it sit for a few minutes---then I started it again and got a screen that said: "Overclocking FAILED! Would you like to reload defaults and try again?" So I did that and left the ram alone after that. I think the only thing MORE annoying than my ram flitting in and out like a schizophrenic fairy is for the computer not to boot at all....

that error message is normal on an ASUS board when the machine doesnt boot up properly or more accurately, when the boot sequence is interrupted.
for a core i7, your minimum memory speed (should your board support it, which it does) is ddr3-1600.

laura said:

No warranty---I built this machine myself. Ordered the parts off the internet and started building what "I" wanted and needed. I couldn't find a machine that I could afford with the stuff that I needed for work...So for this machine to be down long enough to replace everything, it's gonna choke me at far as work goes. I got the power supply from one place, the ram from Circuit City and the mobo from New Egg. Which means dealing with a ton of paperwork and massive down time...
I think I'm gonna start with bugging the OCZ people. Seriously? I spent close to 700.00 on RAM. I think maybe their IT people need to do some work for that kind of money...

Laura

at this point, my suggestion would be to, as in what i would do if i were confronted with the same...

1. change the ram and drop the size. make it 12 gigs triple channel - ie, 2 kits of 6 gb each (for a total of 6 sticks) as 24 gigs is just too expensive right now - return the rest. see if that gets you anywhere.

2. even after that, if you have issues, change the power supply.

3. even after that, if there are still issues, return the board and get a new one.

4. and even after that, if it's still flaky, take the pc to a local computer shop and have them diagnose it (since by this time, you've changed the ram, ps and the board)

sure, there's a fair amount of downtime, but i cant think of any other way.
you could reduce some of the time by doing that cross-shipping thing, where they ship you the replacement part and then only do you send the old part back.

last thought, do you have this connected to a ups by any chance? if so, what kind of ups? (could the older ups tech screw up a modern power supply's PFC or am i full of crap?)