Computer failing to POST at OC settings after 4.5 years of success?

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VampD

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So my custom built system is more then 4.5 years old now. When I first got it I instantly overclocked the Q6600 g0 step processor from 2.4 ghz to 3.0 ghz and didn't even have to change the voltage ( left it at the stock 1.28?? something V. and got average temps ) Everything worked fine for 4.5 long years until now. I had upgraded from windows xp to windows 7 ( don't know if this is relevant since it worked fine in windows 7 for a week ) but now my computer refuses to POST at 3.0 ghz and will reset to 2.4 ghz stock settings. Sometimes I'll get lucky and one day it can POST at 3.0 ghz but for the most part it keeps rebooting and reverting to stock settings. My question is there anything in particular that could have caused this? Did something get old inside? The PSU? Should I be worried? Maybe try to bump up the voltage to get a successful POST? If so by how much? Any feedback is much appreciated!

PS: The weather actually got colder so I don't think high temperature can be an issue, especially during bootup.

My system stats:

Q6600 g0 running at stock 1.28??V voltage, used to be able to POST at 3.0 ghz but now can only POST at 2.4 ghz
Gigabyte- P-35-DS3R mobo
4 gigs of OCZ ram at 0.4+ V voltage
GTX 460 764mb running at stock settings
Windows 7 64 bit
Tuniq tower 120 HSF
Thermaltake armor computer case
 
I would remove the heatsink and clean it throughly, and then apply a fresh coat of thermal paste. It would probably be a good idea to replace the fans.
 
Oh man taking off the HSF and reseating and applying new thermal paste ( any recommendations since my MX-1 from before is most likely gone ) is a lot of work ( tears off my fingers unscrewing the tuniq tower 120 tight bolts ). You sure its worth it since the temps seem average - 30 idle - 55 max load, and all the fans are working. Every 6 months I do spray everything with compressed air to remove all the dust. Does thermal paste really only have a 4 year life?
 
It will dry out after a while. I would say that after 4.5 years it wouldn't hurt to change it.

Does your mobo chipset have a fan and heatsink? It would probably be a good idea to change the paste on that also.

Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound

The system can fail to start at your OC settings because of your memory also. You should run Memtest86+ to test your memory, let it run through the test at least twice.

At higher voltage setting electrical component will degrade overtime, the average lifespan of a cpu is about 10 years. If you've been using it everyday, + or - a few days, for 4.5 years it could be starting to degrade. I would try lowering the overclock a little, and it would probably be a good time to start planning on a new system.
 
If you're running stock voltage for that long then it just needs a bit more juice and a clean job.

How much more juice though? Should I bump it up to 1.3V? 1.4V?

I ran memtest for 9 hours and the ram was clear with 0 errors
 
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