i have built many machines over time but last night was a real stumper for me ..
asus mobo ,
geil ram 2x1g
maxtor sata hd
samsung sata optical
palit 9800gt gpu
450 psu
e5300 cpu

ok issue was .. on vista install got to different stages and would bsod.
removed 1 stick of ram .. same . swapped over stick of ram .. same .. used different ram . same .. changed optical drive ... same ... change hdd to eide with win vista basic install bsod as soon as tried to boot...
installed drivers from mobo cd before install just incase it was a chipset issue, sata driver issue or usb issues ....

now i have never had this happen on installation of an os, sometimes on installing drivers but thats easy to find...
page out of range ...irq issues and some other bsod's just put me off aftr the first 3 hours of checking wires connections etc. totally stripped down to components and rebuilt just incase
still the same....

tried memory in my system this morning all booted ok ... formatted hdd and was able to instal vista .. saw optical drive too . ..

so can only put it down to mobo ...
i updated to latest bios from tinterweb and made sure mem voltages were ok..

so .. duff mobo ? only thing i have not tried on my mc is the gpu as i cant be arsed with uninstalling the current one

your ideas on a postcard to .....