So I've had a couple of Asus A7V880 board for a few months now, and in true Asus fashion, they both have problems. One died from what I like to call "asus sudden inexplicable death syndrome", while the other decided the first two memory slots are not necessary so they no longer work - while the other two work fine. How did it happen? Well, one moment the PC reads 2GB of ram in Dual Channel mode, than after a reboot it only detected 1GB in single channel mode.

Now here's the problem - the KT880's whole gimmick is it's superior memory performance, especially in dual-channel mode - BUT since the first two slots don't work, I can only run memory in single channel, making the board relatively useless.

As it is, the board posts, boots and works fine with only two out of four memory slots.

Normally I'd just dump it in the parts bin and buy another one but KT880 boards (especially good ones like the Abit KW7 or the A7V880) are nearly impossible to find in good condition due to the fact that the KT880 was so late to market, so very few boards were made.

Here's what I've done so far:
- inspected all four memory slots for physical damage - there is NONE
- removed and checked ALL capacitors - they all measure good, none is bloated or leaky.
- carefully inspected ALL traces coming from the NB to the memory slots - none are damaged
- inspected the board for missing SMD parts - everything is where it should be

Now at this point I'm starting to think the culprit is one of the MOSFETs placed around the memory slots, but I have no way to test those.

Any advice? (PCBONES, your electronic specialist super powers are needed!)