Macbook Pro Random Freezing

Hi all, I've read many threads similar to this but I can not for the life of me figure this problem out!

My wife has a 2006 15" MPB Core2Duo. Recently in the past couple months it has been locking up and the only thing to do is hold down the power button to turn it off. It usually happens when she is using Illustrator or Safari. She'll click on something and the never ending pinwheel will appear. The mouse can move, but you can't click on anything and force quit does not work. I should also say I upgraded her RAM with a pair of Mushkin DIMMs about a year ago but the freezing is only a recent problem and memtest says they are fine.

Here's what I've tried in order. Problem is always the same.

1. Bought a cooling stand
2. Upgrade installation to Snow Leopard (from tiger)
3. Clean installation of Snow Leopard
4. Check CPU temps (sometimes hits 82, usually around 70-75)
5. Running Apple Hardware Test ( no problems found)
6. Creating a new Admin user account
7. Repairing Permissions in disk utility
8. Checking disk in disk utility (no problems found)
9. Running full memtest 3 different times in single user mode (no problems found)

I honestly have no idea where to go from here and Apple Care expired over a year ago. The only thing I can think of is a faulty logic board and I would rather just buy her a new imac than replace the logic board.

Any insight?? Would really appreciate it.

Just before getting down to your last couple of paragraphs I was thinking to myself sounds like it could be a logic board problem.
Now when someone says bad logic board most people get scared and think that's the end of it.
Some places will have a go and fix logic board at a lot less price than buying a new one.
Of course a new board might end up being the only solution, but I would definitely get it checked out first before buying a new computer altogether.

- Simon

well a new problem has occurred.

Now there are several horizonal lines on the screen that are discolored

dan_quist said:

well a new problem has occurred.

Now there are several horizonal lines on the screen that are discolored

Click to expand...

I would still take it to an Apple store and let them diagnose it who knows they
sometimes work with you to get the problem resolved my 06 had a bad logic
board well actually the video ram which is non user replaceable so I ended up
buying an 09 replacement.

Apple offers a flat rate repair program, provided the computer shows no signs of physical damage, no drops, no spills, etc. For MacBook Pros, it's about $310 plus tax, significantly less than the cost of parts and labor in store. They ship it to a repair facility and can return it to the store or directly to you. My father has sent a couple of computers in for service, and shipping out on a Tuesday, had them back by Friday.