The problem started a month ago when playing Half Life 2. Out of no
where I could play the game for about 15 minutes before it would boot
me out and then restore to the desktop. So I decided to try a
different game like Need for Speed Underground 2 to see what would
happen... and of course the same thing did happen; it would kick me
out of the game after about 10 minutes to the desktop. I can do
anything else on my computer other than play games. I have a roommate
so I decided to try his video card in mine (his video card is
equivalent to mine) and still got the same results... tried his ram
and even in different slots, still nothing different. Oh, and I also
tried these combinations after reformatting my computer. Finally after
talking it over with some friends we thought maybe it could be a power
shortage of some sort. So i decided to try a different (working) power
supply. Then a new problem occurred where the computer would boot up
and then restart after about 4 seconds. After checking the comuter for
loose connections I still had the same problem, therefore I decided to
put my power supply back into the computer and well, it still would
shut off after 4 seconds. I thought maybe the motherboard was touching
the case so i took it out and made it more secure using more screws...
still nothing... then I decided to start taking parts out until I had
the motherboard out of the case with only the RAM and Video Card
connected but still would shut off after 4 seconds. Now I'm thinking
my processor or motherboard is screwed.
So does anyone have any ideas or suggestions up to this point?


I'm thinking that I might have to buy a new motherboard or processor
but I'm not sure which to buy. For some reason I was thinking that I
wouldn't be able to buy one without the other. Reason behind this is
because if I buy a new processor and the motherboard is bad, it could
just damage the new processor... and vice versa, if i buy a new
motherboard and it ends up that the processor is bad, the processor
could damage the new motherboard... not sure if this logic is true...
if not, where should I go from here?

Well, thanks to all that attempt to help me out.