Computer freezes instantly then won't boot

[2keane]

hi guys.
asus motherboard
amd athlon x2

couple days ago pc started freezing, ran a virus scan and got nothing. tested the ram was good. then it got worse when i went to reset my pc it wouldn't boot properly, screen has no signal but the computer sounds like its working (hdd's and fans spinning. take out power, put back in and then it will boot and then again freezes after 10-30 mins.

today i could get into the bios and setup and froze in there so looks to be a hardware issue.

heat sink looked detached so i got that back in. took battery out and back in. took the video card out and back in.

i dont have any idea what it could be. i was going to get a video card to test but want to check before i splurge. any ideas

 

[Mark56]

Have a look in Event Viewer and see what it reports at the time of a crash.

If your CPU heatsink was actually detached it will have been overheating. Also if not securely clamped down onto the CPU the thermal paste will have been disturbed so you should clean all the dry residue from the CPU and the heatsink and apply fresh paste and reseat it.

If it has been overheating a lot it may have damaged the CPU but see what Event Viewer has recorded.

Download and install this to keep an eye on your temps.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/