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#21
Thanks for the replies Karl and Dave!
Dave, as per your questions - I've never dared to overclock, because I'm too scared to fry my equipment. I've also not touched my CPU since I received the PC in 2007. The memory is 4 sticks of 2GB G.Skill F2-6400CL5D RAM, which I think I have a lifetime warranty on. Finally, I don't think I've ever played with NB settings (sheepishly, I will admit that I don't know what NB stands for).
Karl - I have SpeedFan running as we speak, and it looks like my system is relatively cool, even under load. The GPU would be the one thing that looks hotter than average, idling at 50-52C. Judging from the buzz on the internet, though, these 8800GT's run super hot anyway...
Here's the update of how this issue is going:
I tinkered with it a bit these past couple of days, and ended up getting the system booting again. Oddly enough, what seemed to work better than anything was switching the RAM clocks to 5-5-5-14 as opposed to the automatically given 5-5-5-15. This only works with one stick in the system however... whenever I add another it seems to crash within the first few minutes of use.
I have been stress-testing the stability of the machine now using Starcraft 2 I can't really play it yet, because whenever 3D graphics present themselves, my system seems to lock up and forces me to reboot (no BSOD). It would appear to be GPU failure, but from watching SpeedFan while it happens it looks like the card only gets up to 60-65C before it crashes. Any ideas?
Also, if anyone has any ideas of why my I can't seem to increase my RAM, that would also be very welcome. I have tested all the sticks individually with MemTest, and they seem to be good.
Haven't received a BSOD since I got the machine booting again (except when I put in more sticks of RAM). Praying that the clean install of Windows 7 helped in that area.