I also suspect an inadequate heatsink/fan or a poor job of applying the thermal compound. Maybe too much applied? Too little is usually better than too much. Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

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yeah, overheating CPU seems more likely...PSU would be the 2nd thing to look into

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Thank you all for your input. I may have narrowed the problem down - although the conclusion I have reached is confusing. The Windows stop errors I am receiving are 0x0000008E which pertains to a RAM issue. Memtest86 ran all night without any issues or reboots. Could this still be an issue with the PSU / overheating? I.e. could the temperature and wattage being inadequate cause apparent memory errors, and only manifest when the PC is under stress, specifically not when running memtest for a full 8 hours? Cheers

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"Could this still be an issue with the PSU / overheating?" Definately. "could the temperature..." (being too high) "....and wattage being inadequate cause apparent memory errors, and only manifest when the PC is under stress, specifically not when running memtest for a full 8 hours?" Running memtest places very little stress on your system. It is quite possible that while you run it a marginal PS would not be under enough stress for problems to show up. There is no point in running memtest any longer than it takes to make a few successful passes - if it gets that far there is nothing wrong with your ram. An error in Windows that points to a problem with your ram is not necessarily correct, especially if your windows installation may already be damaged from the unexpected reboots - the memtest test is much more reliable. If your cpu malfunctions when it gets too hot, or if it is already damaged from getting too hot in the past and malfunctions when it is under more stress, that can cause data errors and data corruption, especially if the computer crashes or reboots while data is being accessed on the hard drive(s), but the errors are on the hard drive, not in the ram. If your PS in inadequate or defective, if it works at all it is a lot more likely to give you problems when it is under more load, and/or when the system is under more stress. In those circumstances, the voltages it produces can get out of whack - they may even get out of whack and stay that way - voltages that are too high can do a lot of damage in a short time and can make the cpu malfunction or even damage the cpu, sometimes even if it is not overheating. What would I do in your case? We get posts about problems similar to yours and other problems here every day that eventually turn out to be caused by a failiny or inadequate power supply. I would try another PS that has enough capacity - you haven't said whether your mboard is Socket A or a later one, but 300 watts should be plenty, if the PS is a good brand. Make sure all the wire colors and numbers of wires on the main connector from the PS are the same - if they are not one PS is not compatible with the other! If you can't do that.... take it to a computer repair place and have them try another PS, or....... Sniff the PS fan outlet area with the power off - a strong burnt wiring / burnt plasticy smell indicates the PS has been overheating or has been malfunctioning, regardless of whether the PS fan is spinning properly. Try turning the PS fan from the back of the case with a pencil or something slim - it should move in jumps, but be easy to turn - if it is harder to turn, the fan is spinning slower than it should or has stopped spinning, the PS has probably overheated and damaged itself, and the PS is probably in the process of dying. You may need to do this right after the computer has unexpectedly rebooted or shut down: Look in your bios Setup at the current voltages (if you have the monitoring chipset for that) - +3.3, +5, and +12 volts should be within 10% of nominal values - your Vcc (cpu core voltage(s)) should be within 5% of nominal value(s). Voltages that are too high can do a lot of damage in a short time. If you don't have that in your bios Setup, measure the 12 and 5 volts at the power connectors to a drive - red is +5 volts d.c., yellow is +12 volts d.c., black is negative, probably doesn't matter which one. The PS fan should be spinning at the speed it is supposed to be - some spin according to how warm the PS is, slower when cooler, but it may not have that feature and in that case would spin quite fast. If it spins too slow or has stopped, the PS will overheat and fry itself, malfunction for a while, and eventually die. Some PS problems only show up intermittantly, or only when you add an additional load to the computer - when the computer is booted, or when you are running something that stresses it more, such as when you are burning a CD or DVD, or playing a recent game. You could try installing a mboard monitoring utility that can monitor your temps and voltages in Windows, and set it up so that it is monitoring all the time and will warn you if something goes out of whack, particularly the voltages. .....

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It also sounds like your Windows installation is damaged. Once you have cured the rebooting problem and your system is stable, you could try doing an XP Repair Setup, which will not harm your existing Windows installation, but it can only fix things Windows detects as wrong, or replace corrupted or missing Windows files that are on your original XP CD. If running it doesn't cure enough of your problems and/or the problems are caused by things not on the original Windows CD, you will probably have to make a clean install of Windows from scratch. You will need a Windows CD of the same version as the one of your Windows installation, and the Product Key, preferably the one that was used to install it, but it can be one for the same version as the one of your Windows installation. how to do an XP Repair Setup, step by step: http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm

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