I got it from Zip Zoom Fly. They're closed right now so I'll have to call back tommorow :/.

looks like im going to throw in the towel and return the **** thing :/. i've updated the bios and nothing. i installed windows using another PC of mine and tried connecting it to the new machine to see if it would boot up and it won't get past the start up screen. bye bye asus board...

You can't install Windows on another computer and just move the Hard Drive over. Windows keeps a signature of your hardware specs when it installs, and a big change like motherboard, processor, or a large amount of misc hardware at once will cause Windows to fail at booting.

I recommend calling Zip Zoom Fly and requesting a Return Material Authorization (RMA) or contacting ASUS and doing the same. I've heard nothing but good about the quality of ASUS motherboards, don't give up on it yet. Get a replacement, my friend.

did that, got a new board, and still similar problems only this time instead of doing a long beep on start up, i get 3 short beeps when all four dimms are in place. the good news is this time it actually boots up with the RAM in dimms a1-a2 but i can't add any more. when starting up, i STILL have the power downs so i haven't gotten any farther than a week ago. i'm now starting to think its a power issue. i've been told the antec sonata II stock power supply is faulty but should that randomly shut my computer down when i'm booting up?

well its been a while since the last update but i finally got my pc up and running. everythign seems fine however...

I still suffer random power downs every now and again especially when i'm downloading windows updates. i've done the power test and it seems my 450W power supply should be adequate enough.

my pc will not start up when i have all four dimm slots filled. it only starts up with 2 dimms in the b-slots.

ahhh the fabulous world of pc building always has exciting road blocks to over come

HEY!! I solved my random shutdown issues. after an hour of googling i found someone with a similar problem. it was because my heat sink wasn't properly secured causing my processor to overheat. it was reading 70+ degrees C when it should be around 30-35C. i'm happy that i no longer have that issue.

I STILL however cannot get all four gigs of RAM to work together. my RAM isn't defective, I think it just can't work with my mother board :/