random freezing problems

Comp specs:

PSU - not really sure what it is anymore without tearing the machine apart. There aren't any stickers facing outwards (other than an ACTIVE PFC sticker), and I don't remember what it was. I know it's at least a modular 1000w (or slightly more). The machine worked perfectly for a couple years with this setup.

PC Wizard 2012 Version 2.11
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Owner: Nemesis_II
User: Administrator
Computer Name: NEMESIS_II-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate Professional Media Center 6.01.7601 Service Pack 1
Report Date: Monday 09 September 2013 at 19:52

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<<< System Summary >>>

> Mainboard : MSI NF980-G65 (MS-7612)

> Chipset : nVidia nForce 980a SLI SPP

> Processor : AMD Phenom II X6 1100T @ 2400 MHz

> Physical Memory : 8192 MB (2 x 4096 DDR3-SDRAM )

> Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE

> Hard Disk : NVIDIA MIRROR 931.51G (1000GB)

> DVD-Rom Drive : Optiarc BD RW BD-5300S

> DVD-Rom Drive : OZMNCR 6N8P6VGHI

> DVD-Rom Drive : _NEC DVD_RW ND-3550A

> Monitor Type : Hewlett Packard HP w22 - 22 inches

> Monitor Type : Samsung SyncMaster - 19 inches

> Network Card : Nvidia MCP77 Ethernet

> Network Card : Ralink Technology RT2800 802.11n Wireless LAN Card

> Operating System : Windows 7 Ultimate Professional Media Center 6.01.7601 Service Pack 1 (64-bit)

> DirectX : Version 11.00

> Windows Performance Index : 5.9 on 7.9

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***** End of report *****
 
The guy before (got it used) me was powering 2 460 cards in SLI. Even still, it's probably overkill, but I do believe it's around 1kW. I'll pull it out and check later today or tomorrow.
 
Well, no dice. She locked up again.

Something that might be worth mentioning is that my motherboard's FSB will only go down to 240Mhz, while my CPU is rated at 200. With the stock multiplier of 16x, my 3.3Ghz processor is being boosted to 3.8Ghz without any voltage mods. I've dropped the multiplier down to 14x and have been running it like that with no problems for the past several years. It wouldn't happen to be anything to do with that per chance, would it?
 
Found out something interesting today. As I was running a PC cleaner, it said my CPU was running at 90c. According to SpeedFan, my CPU (core) is at 28c, and my (temp2) is at 90c. I figured the Temp2 was one of those naturally cooled things on the motherboard, but if it is indeed the CPU, that could be the problem. I'm not sure why it's not though. I've got a Hyper212 plus on there with the appropriate sized cooling fan and Arctic Silver 5 (or better) on there.
 
If you have an overclock that you cannot remove, you may be cooking the north bridge causing instability. Run a game and touch the northbridge heat sink and see if its really hot. Also consider the RAM. If that is linked to the overclock, it may need a little more voltage.
 
Well, the frequency is OC'd, but the multiplier is dropped to bring the overall speed back down. I dunno exactly how they wire the sockets anymore, but the processor, as a whole, is running at its intended speed.

The northbridge is quite toasty. Perhaps it's....partially fried? Nah, that doesn't make sense. If that were the case, why would it suddenly start causing problems now?
 
It totally makes sense. The PCIe and NIC and USB, RAM etc runs through the northbridge. When you have the issue youre using these. The CPU may be at the correct frequency however the ram and northbridge probably aren't. You want to ensure you have slightly higher voltage on both and extra cooling. Id suggest a 120mm fan pointing at the motherboard (full speed at the northbridge) and research what voltages to set for your northbridge and RAM - give them a moderate overvolt to account for the overclock you cannot avoid..

I think you've found your issue.
 
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Sounds like a plan. I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to get to voltage tweaking, but it should be within the next couple days.

...but why would it suddenly start being a problem now, instead of when I first got the thing?
 
I've been kinda sorta thinking about getting a new MoBo anyways because this one doesn't have SATA III and I just picked up a SATA III SSD. I kinda wonder if my PCI bus is partially fried anyways because my PCI wireless cards seem to be kinda flaky - which might actually be the frequency thing mentioned above.
 
After a new mobo (that I was thinking about getting anyways), a fresh Win 7 install on my new SSD (sooooo much faster :D ), and a PSU swap, the problem persisted. I did some research on the graphics stuff since that was my next guess and it seems as though a fair amount of people are having problems with the Nvidia 32x.xx drivers. It seems as though they've introduced a memory leak or something in one of their releases a little while ago and have yet to fix it. Anyways, I've rolled back to version 314.22. Hopefully, that will clear things up.
 
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