Hi Kevin,
The first thing I did when I installed the system was update to the latest BIOS.
After further testing, I discovered that even with the BIOS set to all defaults, every time I reboot the system starts, stops, starts again, and then shows the message regarding failed POST attempts. If I answer 'N' (no, to try the settings again) the system boots fine once again.
I've also noticed that regardless of memory settings (automatic or XMP), the CPU-Z utility shows empty fields where there should be memory information, even though the OS (Win 7) recognizes the fact that I have 16GB RAM.
I have some Patriot Intel Extreme Masters RAM (2x4GB) I'll try tonight.