well ran metest86+ 2.11 for 21+ hours with no errors. safe to say my ram is almost certainly fine.

i guess it's possible there's some other bios setting i'm missing, but like i've said this is a recent thing, and i haven't adjusted my settings in ages.

i'm almost certain now it must be the board.

i've already submitted for an rma with asus so hopefully they'll send me a new one.

anyone have experience with rma'ing boards to asus? do you just send them the old board and you're only out the shipping to them?

i'm not super concerned with my rig being down as i have a netbook, laptop and server to use in the meantime and at least 2 of those is more than good enough to meet any gaming needs i'll find