Computer shuts down and won't boot unless I clean heatsink

[Maver1ckZer0]

Hey everyone so here's the deal.

Built my computer and it ran fine for about three months. Then it would start crashing in the middle of games a lot. (Fallout 3 and DA:O) For the first few days it either rebooted itself or I would do it manually. Then it would boot up and get to the windows bar in dos and then freeze. Then it would power on but the screen stayed blank. I tried replacing the RAM and the power supply but that didn't work. Finally replacing the processor did the trick. Out of curiosity I took the old processor, cleaned off the heatsink and replaced it with fresh thermal compound and voi'la! It worked. My computer ran fine this way for about another month and then one day it wouldn't boot up anymore. I went straight to the processor, cleaned and replaced it and it worked just fine. Anyone have any idea what is going on here? At first I figured the processor must be overheating, but I've been running a monitor and it hasn't risen above 40C so I don't think that's the problem. I'm not sure if it's the processor, the heatsink (I've looked at it and the fan spins) or the thermal compound. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Specs:
AMD Phenom II X4 (this is the original processor that has failed twice, but works when I put new compound on it)
4GB G.Skill DDR3 1333
ASUS M4A78T-E mobo
Gigabyte 1GB Radeon 4670
Windows Vista Home Premium

 

[EpicPie]

Get a new heatsink.

 

[Ritwik7]

Looks like the thermal compund is drying off too quickly. Like Epic says it could be a problem with your HSF.

 

[Maver1ckZer0]

Thanks guys, if it does it again I'll have to try that. It just seems weird to me that the manufacturer equipment doesn't work. I don't overclock or anything so it's not like I'm stressing past what it's designed to do. I guess I'm kind of hesitant to use a different heat sink because it voids the warranty, and if it turns out there is something wrong with the processor AMD won't be responsible.

 

[n0tepad]

hii , i want to ask, i cleaned only the heatsink of the processor i use AMD DURON (too old but the performance is good for searching.. ) then after i cleaned it I take it back properly then I on the PC and it doesn't work at all ..

i just want to know how to fix it ?