OK...so I installed the P5E and put 2 x 1 GB of Crucial Ballistix Tracers PC8500 on the board.  Prior to the install...I ran the memory at 1066 speed on my P5B Deluxe motherboard and memtested them to death...with NO errors.  
 
Now...on to the issue.  Got the board installed on 12/30...came with bios 302...so I immediately flashed to 501..  Installed the Crucial and the hard drives, etc.  Started to install Windows Vista.  Everything went as smooth as silk.  Even now, Windows Vista runs very well...with the memory clocked at 1066 Mhz...and my fsb is 1333 with an Intel E6750 processor.  I don't overclock...but wanted the head room on the memory.  Went into the bios...set up the memory at 5-5-5-15 as spec'd.  Left everything else at auto.
 
After installing about 75 GB of programs (From Office 2007, Adobe Photoshop to Crysis)...everything went smoothly, except Bitdefender Total Security 2008, which totally chokes in Vista.  So I still had a little subscription left to Trend Micro...installed and everything seems great.  Then I had the incredible idea...let's run memtest on this board.  I know the memory is good...tested it four or five times on the P5B at 1066 and 800....never failed...so I run memtest...not even 5% into the first run...errors...fbfbfbfbfb.  OK...so I go into bios and manually set the voltage to 2.15...errors.  Set the memory to 800 MHZ...errors...over volt to 2.30...errors....errors all the time
 
Either the memory has gone bad...or it tests badly in the P5E.  I will put back into the P5B Deluxe later to see...but I know that so many of you are having the issues like this.  
 
Funny thing...never a blue screen in Vista...never (knock on wood).....where I see many of you with blue screens.
 
Is this board the culprit?
 
I will report on test on P5B in the next day or so...
 
Thoughts are much appreciated.
 
Bob  
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 not overclocked
Asus P5E bios 501
2 x 1 GB Crucial Ballistix Tracers (PC8500) at 1066 MHZ
2 x 74 GB Western Digital Raptors on ICH9R...Raid 0
Thermaltake Toughpower 750 Modular PSU
XFX 8800 GT  
Soundblaster X-fi Extreme Gamer Fatality Pro

find anything out?  maybe it is the board...but then the smooth loading doesnt make sense...i want this board for my next build...but if it has problems, who knows?  i dont think your ram is bad, but it may be.  try it out on your old board again.  if it doesnt work, send the board back and tell em to give ya a new one, or ask why it wont pass memtest.

---------------
msi k9a platinum
x2 4000+ brisbane
patriot extreme ddr2800 cl4
stock air until i get new pump

Nothing to fear about the P5E...it's one of the memory modules.  Been playing with memtest 1.70 and memtest 3.4a.  3.4a actually tests each module separately...and found that the stick in bank 0 was working erratically.  Tested the bad stick by itself and the good stick by itself.   Spent hours on this last night...and am still doing memtest right now...here's some specific findings:
 
OK...good chip...runs at 1066 mhz with no problem with bios setting for memory voltage set to AUTO.  Bad chip...fails while the bios setting is on AUTO, but passes as long as memory voltage is 2.0v or less.  So, basically I have one memory chip that can run at up to 2.2v and one that will not.  Just spoke with Crucial about this...JEDEC standard is 1.8v...so undervolting is not an issue...performance won't be effected.  So I set the voltage to 1.8 in my bios and leave alone until I can get an exchange from Newegg....or I can leave it alone and just fly with it...if it fails down the road...get it replaced by Crucial.  
 
With all that said...the P5E is ROCK SOLID!  I got this board instead of the Maximus Formula...because a good friend owns a Computer shop and told me that for every 5 Maximus Formulas he sells, he gets 4 back into the shop with problems.  I was his first introduction to the P5E...and based on what he has seen, he intends to sell them in place of the Maximus Formula.  YES...the P5E will overclock like a champ.  Just beware...which bios you are using.  My board came with 302...which is not a very stable bios...so I flashed to 501 which is a major step in the right dirrection.  As opposed to the past, where I could just flash a new bios and move on....my board in particular went black and required clearing the CMOS for a minute or so...then repowered up and is working great.
 
Other info.  Got my P5E from Newegg.  Excellent price!  Newegg Customer Service is Top Shelf.  Been purchasing from them for a long time.  Zipzoomfly also has the board a few dollars cheaper.  Nothing to fear with the P5E....enjoy...
 
Happy New Year
 
Bob

yeah awesome.  for out here in hawaii zzf has the cheapest shipping.  i mean i got a 32" tv from them shipped out here in two days for....24 bucks.  cant beat that with a stick!  thanks for the bios info.  i will definitely buy this board for my gaming computer when the q9550 comes out in a month or so

---------------
msi k9a platinum
x2 4000+ brisbane
patriot extreme ddr2800 cl4
stock air until i get new pump

I wouldn't set my memory voltage to auto. I would set it to 2.2v as suggested by the manufacturer.