Problem with my computer, not quite sure what it is

[ShiftySpider]

Hey guys, last night my computer kept on freezing. It would freeze on the motherboard screen most of the time, but sometimes it got farther and would make it all the way to the windows login screen. I have no idea what might have caused this. I left it off until this morning and it seemed to be working fine, until right as I left the mouse icon started sputtering and screwing up. That is what was happening before. Now, as I try to turn it on, it won't go past the motherboard screen and restarts right after. I can't even get into the BIOS anymore. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[olmer]

CPU fan?

 

[ShiftySpider]

I opened my case and checked last night, it appeared to be on.

 

[ShiftySpider]

Also, my specs are
Gigabyte DS3
E6300
1 Gig DDR2 667 RAM
7900 GS
I think thats all that you should need to know to help me.

 

[tcG]

Temperatures?

Power supply?

 

[ShiftySpider]

My temps that I usually can check are well below overheating, never over 40 Degrees Celsius. My PSU is a 430 watt Thermaltake PSU.

 

[oynaz]

A piece of hardware is overheating or malfunctioning. The most probable are RAM, VGA card and mobo,

 

[ShiftySpider]

Isn't it a little strange that after 2 months of use it is just now beginning to show signs of overheating? Anyway, If its overheating its probably the northbridge of the DS3, since I have heard that that can get really hot.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I can't say what's behind my intuition, except for occasional experience with similar symptoms. [Ve-r-ry occasional.] If it were me, I'd test the RAM first.

Did you over-clock your system? which PSU are you using? Did you add any component of significant wattage since you built it?

If you test the RAM with a fresh pair of warranty-replaced sticks, and it still shows similar errors, it might be the memory controller -- the Northbridge (mobo). I can't justify my inclination, but I personally don't think it's your VGA card.

I blew my memory controller last year, and I had one of those OCZ DDR-Booster thingies in a memory slot. I'd never boosted the VDIMM over 2.9V, but you can bet I yanked that thing outta there and never again put it back into the replacement mobo.

Usually, these components will go their whole expected life-span if you can stress test them for 72 hours without encountering problems. You also didn't say whether or not you'd boosted the VDIMM voltage beyond spec.