i have searched for answers to my problem, and some posts are close to my problem, but sorry in case its answered.

Ok, buddy got a comp with asus A7v8x-x, amd 2600 xp cpu, 300 watt psu, 4200 ti video card, i put 2 sticks of 1g pc-3200 in it.

problem is when he showed it to me and we put his xp on it everything seemed fine (no drivers installed yet) we then put vista on and now its just rebboting on its own, checked the cpu temp in bios and its like 65 c 114 f, i dunno what is normal but i think thats to hot, and thats why its rebooting. I removed the heatsink/fan on cpu to see what pin the cpu was to see if mine would fit (doesnt), but i didnt have any thermal grease to put back on. Is thermal grease a biggy? i thought as long as the HS/F was seated tight it was ok, the old grease was dry but dunno thank you in advance to any help )

Thermal crease is very important it is to conduct the heat from the cpu core to the heatsink so the fan can blow it away. If no grease that path is broken and the rule of thump is that you don't reuse the old dried out grease it will trap air in between and break the path.

thank you very much, ill run out and grab some )