Yep, thanks for the help. If you are still curious, I can switch the ram back to check if I would lose ram, I can and would you a heads up.
Well, to be honest I really am. Seems like everything you'd done previously should have been fine. Either 2/4/2/4 or 4/2/4/2... shouldn't have made a difference.
I mean if you had the 2x2GB inserted into A1+B1 (blue) first, and then bought the additional 2x4GB cards you'd just naturally put them into the remaining pair of black slots (A2+B2). Why shouldn't that have been perfectly fine, no matter whether the new cards were of any size?
I'm still of the opinion that the current outstanding "giant clue" is the fact that CPUID doesn't show "dual-channel" and "symmetric mode" for you. Instead, your "DC mode" is grayed out and you have something shown as "NB frequency" with a number (I don't know what this represents). Both of my own machines (two different manufacturers, both with 2x2GB DDR3 memory in slots #1 and #3) show "dual" channel operation and "symmetric" mode.
It would be interesting if you would take the trouble to try both pairs of memory separately, putting them into the blue slots (leave the black slots empty), and boot to Windows and see what CPUID says. First try the original 2x2GB again, and next try the new 2x4GB. Just two matched-pair memory cards, just to see whether either of these pairs by themselves (without confusion from the other pair in the black slots) does produce DUAL channel and SYMMETRIC mode or not.
If you wouldn't mind, I think this would be interesting information to add to the saga.
In fact, proper completion of the test matrix probably should also include repeating the two experiments (using only your two different pairs of memory cards by themselves) IN THE BLACK SLOTS! Now we would know if there is really any difference whatsoever relating to which of the A1+B1 (blue) or A2+B2 (black) slots you use, for either size memory cards.
I think this may possibly all stem from the fact that you were begifted with a new pair of 2x4GB memory cards that maybe are not being seen by the BIOS as entirely identical to the original 2x2GB cards and I'm not just talking about the size difference. I know, it sure looks from the JDEC numbers and all the other details that the new 4GB cards are identical to the 2GB cards except twice the size, but apparently not. It's just not behaving like it's all from a "memory card kit" which is always how I buy memory.
Anyway, if you have the time and opportunity and interest to perform these final few experiments using just 2 cards at a time, trying both size memory card pairs in both the blue and black slot pairs, just to complete the test matrix and tabulate all the results, it would be very interesting and informative.
