Win 7 - Kernel Power 41 - which hardware is causing it?

[Jambone]

Ok so I've been having this issue for a while, whereby whenever I play a 3D intensive game after about 10 minutes it just dies, cuts out and restarts. Recently it's also been coming up with the error when I'll open firefox and it'll just freeze, meaning I need to restart it. I've tried swapping PSU's to no avail and I've tried in Windows XP and it results in the same straight out power cut-out.

Initially I thought it was the GPU cause it was only occuring in games, but now it's happened without playing a game, so it could also be either the CPU, MOBO or the RAM and for the life of me I just cannot pinpoint which it is.

Anyone got any ideas on how I could check this?

Cheers
James

First post, woo. Nice to meet everyone ^_^

 

[Jambone]

Oh and apologies if this is the wrong section :\

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Make sure everything is at stock speeds then download Memtest86+: http://www.memtest.org/

 

[Slugbait]

Initially I thought it was the GPU...

I also think it's the GPU. More precisely, I think it's the GPU fan.

But it could also be the CPU HSF.

Open the case and start with compressed air or a vacuum. After you've cleaned up, let us know if it's still unstable.

 

[Jambone]

Thanks guys,

Ill give Memtest a go, see if that helps

The GPU fan seems to be spinning fine, and the temperatures seem completely normal :\

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I'd work with Memtest HCI first, then see what Memtest86 does for ya.

 

[Jambone]

Ok, I'm sure the issue is hardware as it also occurs on Windows XP.

I've tried memory (RAM) tests and that went fine, I've also swapped the graphics card out for one in another computer that runs fine, to no avail.

So by process of elimination, the issue is either CPU (which I will test at some point) or MOBO.

Opinions? Would the mobo or CPU cause the Kernel Power error?

Also, if in safe mode the computer runs without crashing, despite the crashes usually attributed to playing games etc, yet the gfx card not directly being the issue, is it still likely hardware?