[H]elp needed with New Mobo/Proc/RAM problems

[Tradition]

I recently purchased a P4C 2.8gHz, an ASUS P4P800 Deluxe mobo, and 1 gig of Mushkin Blue PC3200 DDR (2 x 512MB).

These were added to my Antec 400W power supply, a Hitachi 200GB Deskstar w/ 8 MB Cache (not SATA tho, boo!), a Radeon 9600 w/ 128mb DDR (its a later iteration, with a heatsink, not a fan), a SoundBlaster Audigy Gamer.

In an attempt to simplify things, I have removed my Audigy (now running from onboard sound), and I have tried to use the Omega drivers for my ATI.

Everything in the second list I can verify works fine. When I installed the new mobo, processor, and RAM, I immediately followed with a format, a fresh Win2k install, and I updated all of my drivers and windows completely.

For general browsing, and indeed light gaming, everything seems to be fine. However, when I attempt to play Planetside (my game of choice), the game will hang, and the system will not respond (forcing me to hard reboot).

Upon reboot, my Bios tells me temps are around 40C, so well within tolerances.

With some recommendations I saw here, I ran Prime95 for almost 24 hours, and I returned no bad values. The next logical test seemed to be to run MemTest86, so I attempted to.

With both DIMMs in the correct locations, I could not come anywhere close to completing the MemTest apps. I removed the module from the 2nd slot, and ran MemTest, which also promptly also failed. I then swapped out the two modules, still only having one installed, and tried again. This time, I got to 97% without MemTest hanging, but upon repeated attempts, I could not repeat that score. As a final test, I took an old Crucial 266Mhz DDR module (256mb) and ran MemTest on it alone. This time, MemTest returned bad segments, and completed the test. Not once when running any combination of my Mushkin did I get any type of return, it would simply freeze some where in the process.

I am running my BIOS in standard (Not Turbo), I have allowed it to automatically select Processor and RAM specs, and I have manually tweaked the RAM, including operating speed and voltages, all to no avail.

So, is it bad RAM? I don't want to return the wrong thing. I think it is, but I thought I would seek some more experienced opinions.
If there is any more information you need, I will happily provide it, as well as perform any recommended tests. Thank you!

Edit: I also ran 3dMark2003 several times in a row with no problems. I am really stuck here.

 

[[H]ymae]

I had a similar prob w/ an older board and thought it was my memory,but it turned out to be my dimm slots, try your mushkin in someone else's compy? The older dimm works, right? That sounds frustrating, I basically ended up replacing everything (which is not so bad, sometimes)

 

[Tradition]

Update:

I tried running Planetside with my old DIMMs, and I experienced the same problem as with my new Mushkin DIMMs.

I also noticed I have no heat sens on my video card, and with only the Heatsink, that makes me a bit worried.

So, I will try my suitemates DIMMs if he will let me, and see if that works, and my RAM in his. And I am going to get some serious cooling stuff