Vista - computer crashes

every time i play a game on my computer, at a random interval, the whole
system shuts down. it is getting really annoying. it never crashes otherwise.
i have tryed everything i can find on the net, like "run as administrater",
"run in compatability mode", i have all the latest drivers for my system. i
don't know. i will include all games i have tryed and my system specs as best
i can. any help would greatly be appreciated.

games:
Two Worlds
Overlord
F.E.A.R.
Black & White 2

specs:
Vista x86
ASUS P5N-E SLI MoBo
Ultra x3 600 watt PSU
Intel Core 2 Duo 4400 2.0 gHz
2GB Crucial DDR2 667 mHz Memory
Lite On 20x DVD+-R drive
500GB SATA hdd
Geforce 8800 GTX 768mb video card

Have you tried opening up the case to help rule out overheating? It sounds
to me like a hardware issue.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/
http://www.windowsresource.net/

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"lrh2phish" <lrh2phish@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:13D2FB44-04A6-4B42-A077-DB9253DA7494@xxxxxx

under a load, i have never seen my processor go above 78*C , and it idles
around 48* - 50*, so i don't think overheating is a problem. in addition to
the cpu fan, i have 2 80mm intake fans, and 2 80mm exhaust fans with good
airflow through the case.

"Paul Smith" wrote:

"lrh2phish" <lrh2phish@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C3BEB30C-F2CF-4F9B-800F-7854FBB01A5C@xxxxxxTypically its graphics cards that do the overheating nowadays. But 78°C for
the CPU is pretty warm.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*

Use the NVidia monitor that comes with your motherboard to monitor the GPU
Temperature. The 8800 GTX runs hot as it is. You should also set it to run
under direct control, 100% speed, to help cool it. 9 times out of ten, if the
system's shutting down (not crashing) it's to stop the card from overheating
and prevent it from being damaged.

"Paul Smith" wrote:

"Michichael" <Michichael@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:B49E136E-8C95-45D4-97C9-DE0BD562629A@xxxxxxI'll echo what people are saying and add that your memory could be bad also,
you should learn how to use memtest86, download the iso, burn a bootable CD
and run memtest86 for at least a couple hours. If no errors come up then
great, if you get any errors that could be it, but 78 degrees, that's hot,
cool that system. Might help, might not. Since the system doesn't crash that
often gonna be hard to narrow this one down.

I'll assume you didn't go cheap on your Power Supply? inadiquate power could
cause this issue.

-A.

When I hear this sort of thing I think of power. Either the PSU is being effected by the heat or the CPU isn't getting all the juice it needs for the games.
I have that same Vid card and it is quite hot.
Do the easiest first, open up the case and get a fan blowing into it and see how that goes. If that fixes it you got a heat problem. Get 120's instead of 80's. If not you probably got a power problem, you could tweak the cpu voltage and see how that goes. Sometimes memory voltage will do this too, but usually that will show during boot.
On the face of it your PSU sounds lovely, perfectly fine for your rig. However, it could be bad or going bad.
Good luck.

"lrh2phish" <lrh2phish@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:13D2FB44-04A6-4B42-A077-DB9253DA7494@xxxxxx

Sounds like your system is overheating from the games. Classic example.

"hkancyr" <hkancyr.2xhgo4@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:hkancyr.2xhgo4@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...He listed his PSU as "Ultra x3 600 watt PSU" if that's not a generic PSU I
don't know what is.

I think Fry's Electronics out here sells these Ultra PSUs that look cool,
modular, LEDs all over them, but the PSU itself is crap can barely maintain
11.5 volts under minimal load.

Enermax, Antec, Seasonic are 3 brands of PSUs I'd recommend off the top of
my head. There are others... I just can't recall them offhand.

Irh2phsh, what power supply do you have? Is there a model # on it? If it
looks like something pimped out on "Pimp my Ride", we might want to make
sure you don't have a lemon under the hood that could cause some serious
damage to that nice video card.