Hello, I have recently started encountering problems with my computer. Here are the specs:

Gigabyte DS3-965P Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo e4400 @ 2.66ghz (Used to have it at 3.0ghz before the problems)
Geil Ultra 2x1gb DDR2 800
Seagate Barracuda 320gb 16mb cache Hard Drive
EVA Geforce 8800GTS 640mb
Corsair HX520 PSU

Ever since the past week or two, my computer has been acting very strangely. At random points in time, Windows will start messing up; I can't open any programs, I can't open My computer, and nothing will load. When I press the hard reset button on my case, the computer just shuts off. When I try pressing the power button again, the computer turns on then immediately turns off a split second later. After that the power button does nothing. So I switch the PSU off then switch it back on, and it works again. I emailed Corsair about this and they said that it's the motherboard that tells the PSU to turn off.
There are also other times where I'll be playing a full-screen game, and all of a sudden my whole computer will start studdering, rendering me unable to do anything. Eventually the computer will either get a BSOD or just shut off altogether.
Also, sometimes when I turn my computer on when it's overclocked at a stable state which I know works, it'll just start restarting the computer and defaulting back to normal speeds.
Another problem is that the onboard sound on my motherboard seems to be getting VERY crackly in the sound.

All of this started happening recently. I have owned this computer since December of 2006, so it could be possible that the component are just getting old. So far, my assumption is that the PSU is going bad, or the motherboard is going bad. I can get a free replacement of the PSU under warranty, but not the motherboard. Also, HDD Health reports that my hard drive is at 67% health. However, when I went to Seagate's website to get a replacement, I was forced to use a Seagate diagnostic program. After extensive tests, it reported that my hard drive passes, which means Seagate won't give me a replacement hard drive.

Any suggestions on what the case may be? I would really like to get this fixed, because having an unreliable computer that crashes constantly is pointless.

Could be any number of things causing system crashes. What error appears on the blue scrreen? What have you done in BIOS. Start by setting up the RAM properly. For PC6400 set the voltage to 2.0-2.1v and try the timings at 5-5-5-15. Set the Northbridge voltage to 1.45-1.5v. Run memtest. If adjusting the RAM speed, timings and voltage has no effect, you have no choice but to break the system down and use spare parts to troubleshoot and diagnose the problem. Break the system down to 1 DIMM RAM , CPU, Video card. Use spare parts, video card, RAM, PSU if you have to to find the problem. No other choice.

Memtest diagnostic tools. Make a CD and boot to it and run some system tests.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Ultimate_Boot_CD_d4981.html

Thanks. I think what I'll do is use Hiren's BootCD and just start going down the list of testing tools it has.

badge is off to a good start and is probably right but my Q is any updates lately?

I'd also try resetting the BIOS to the default and see if the problems persist...

remove the BIOS battery to reset everything... plez be careful...

or... maybe some kinda Windows corruption... check BSOD... (haha I use Fedora!)

Please let us know what you find,thanks

Sorry for not responding earlier.

Anyways, I have tried resetting the BIOS via taking out the battery and choosing default settings in the BIOS itself. Nothing. There have been some times when my motherboard doesn't restart on a bad overclock, and I actually have to take out my graphics card and the battery; boy, what a pain. XD

I don't know, but I have a feeling in my gut that my motherboard is dying... I have tried the paperclip test on the PSU's 24pin connector, and it works fine. The only thing I haven't done is checked any of the voltages on the PSU. The only thing that I have gone off by is Everest Ultimate. For +3.3v, it reads 3.34v, and for 12v it reads around 11.79v when overclocked and around 11.92v when not overclocked (suspicious maybe?). Either way, I can get a replacement for that under warranty.

I think what I am going to do is completely gut out my computer and rebuild it from the ground up. Maybe it's just a bad connection of some sort, or something.

Thanks for the help guys, and I'll keep you updated on what's going on.

When the system blue screens, you need to know the error message (stop error)Windows OS is giving

Right click My Computer
Click on properties
Click on 'Advanced Settings'tab
Chose Advance system settings
Choose Start Up and Recovery
Uncheck 'auto restart'.

Now you can read the BS error message and do a search to find a cause and solution.

Well, the blue screens haven't been as apparent as they have been a couple weeks ago, now the computer just shuts off.

Hmmm, the computer just shuts off? Well, a bad MB is certainly a possibility. And a short could also cause the system to just shut off. I had that happen once. It was a simple short from a fan controller causing the system to die. You might try running the system with just the CPU, 1 DIMM RAM, and video card and HD. Unplug everything else. Optical drives, fans, floppy, everything else and see what you get.

Alright, I'll certainly try that sometime, when I have the time.

I'm actually kind of looking forward to buying a new motherboard, lol. I like that DFI Lanparty DK p35 motherboard. I just hope my Scythe Infinity would fit on it...

Edit: Corsair Tech Support stated that the +12v reading could be anywhere from 11.4v to 12.6v. So now I know that my power supply is doing alright; that was the only speculation I had on it. So now I have the problem narrowed down to the motherboard or the hard drive, but the hard drive seems to be working fine, even at 67% health according to HDD Health. However, I will run a test on it tonight with Hiren's Boot CD.

Edit2: I ran the hard drive test overnight, and there were 0 errors. So now I'm going to run Memtest while I'm at work today and see if there's anything wrong with my RAM. If my RAM checks out, then it HAS to be my motherboard, don't you think?

Well, I ran Memtest for 7 hours straight, and no errors at all when I got home. Unless anyone else can tell me otherwise, I think it's the motherboard. So, does anyone have any suggestions for a new P35 motherboard? Here are four that I came across that look nice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128086

Also, I want to make sure my Scythe Infinity will fit on the motherboard without any obstructions, because that would obviously be bad if there was, like that DFI Lanparty DK with those tall heatsinks.

Well, I ended up ordering the DFI Lanparty DK p35 motherboard.

I decided that if my Scythe Infinity doesn't fit, I'll just hack away at the fins until it does fit.