i think this is the right area to discuss my problem. i have a pretty reliable machine except when i boot up my games. what i experience is a total freeze. no audio, no mouse movement. nothing.

AMD athlon xp (2075mhz)2800+
2.07GHz
BIOSTAR M7VIZ mobo KM400
768mb RAM
EVGA 7800 GS video card

i had problems with the computer freezing before purchasing a video card, installing additional RAM and adding a beefier PSU (350w). i even reformatted my hard drive. still....tried running CIV4 and it would freeze. it used to freeze a lot in windows media player or when on line loading large pages. i added RAM after reformatting and upgrading the PSU plus an evga 7800gs gpu. it ran faster. but i still would freeze. it freezes now when i play BF2142. its a total random freeze.

can you suggest a starting point for troubleshooting?
i have the case opened for circulation. i don't know why, but i think its an overheating issue.

plus, is there a way to change the thermal shut off settings? or would this have nothing to do with the problem.

thanks.

what i have done:
dusted
swapped RAM to see if problem persists....it did.
reformatted computer and reinstalled windows xp
selected optimized bios setup in bios
running norton antivirus
installed newer PSU 350w

flash bios? any ideas?

thanks again.

Could just be that your grapgics card still isnt getting enough juice for it to work properly i would suggest an even bigger psu at least 450w as from what i rember the 7800 is a bit of a power hog.

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power supply? prior to running the new graphics card, i was still encountering freezes. i thought about the PSU as being the culprit, but thought i had enough juice. i was running a radeon x800gto with the PSU and it still froze. then i upgraded to the 7800gs and the same freeze action is happening.

Sounds like a problem i had with a compaq a couple of years back.it would randomly freeze either running something or sitting didn't matter.i put a new PSU new CPU a heatsink and fan rated higher than the cpu a couple of case fans.ended up being the motherboard.i would say from all you have done either you have a motherboard or cpu problem.if you purchase a cpu or motherboard to try it would be just as cost effective to buy a bundle motherboard with cpu.

okay so i flashed my bios. now i'll have to wait and see if it happens again.

point taken on purchasing a mobo/cpu bundle. i looked into mobos for a SOCKET A computer. i still have to do some searching. any suggestions or recommendations?

Another possibility would be bad caps. This article will show you what to look for.

If you do go with a mobo and cpu combo get a newer board.the newer amd's if you like them doesn't run as hot as a Pentium 4.

Its your PSU.....350W is not enough to run any new card effectively!

With those graphics, you should be aiming at 500W plus

Check out this board.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Tab=2&NoMapp=0