wardog: I did try different slot combinations and A2/B2 in addition to A1/B1. I had four DIMMs (btw all at 8GB sticks) bought separately, and I tried first two in both slot combinations, same for second two, and all four including swapped slots. This did not resolve the issue. I also ran extensive memory test with Windows memory tester and memtest86 and neither showed an issue; see Windows 10 patch comment later in this post. The problem was not typically a boot issue. I would boot into Windows 10, but would either blue screen at random times within Windows 10, sometimes minutes, sometimes hours, but "usually" shortly after playing a DirectX game. So, it really could have been anything, but I noticed the problem went away (when memory set to non-XMP) or was greatly reduced and practically eliminated (meaning after playing games and whatever I did not see blue screens or lockups). These event were regardless of the overclock on the CPU (6600K typically @4.5Ghz, but I saw this at stock as well). My major test was OCCT stress in linpack with AVX checked. This would generate errors (not blue screens) with the memory in XMP mode. I found dialing the speed back to around 2600 helped with this issue. I'm currently typing on the same machine with CPU overclock and memory XMP (3200MHz CL14) in place. Recently, it just seems to be working with the latest BIOS (Dec '16), but I'm fairly certain that I saw issues shortly after the BIOS upgrade. It's possible that it's just a Windows 10 stability patch that came out in the mean time; Linux fans chime in now :)).
My problem was very random. I just wish that any Z270 memory testing/settings would be brought back to the Z170. There is just not enough reason to move to a new motherboard for a memory QVL when there is so little difference and no performance benefit. Since there is so little difference, I'm frustrated that the QVL cannot be brought back to the Z170. But then, they make money by selling boards as Intel makes money with new CPUs that only provide 10% performance boost :)
I think that my board, memory, and OS are running correctly now. Frustrating that it took about 9 months to get there. I should be grateful that I at least had a usable computer. We take so much for granted :)
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