Computer crash/freeze/restart video card problem?

[vietxquangstah]

i've been having these problems with my computer where it would just crash automaticall restart or just freeze and the sound that comes through my speakers while its frozen is just like a buzzing noise looping over and over.

and all this ONLY occurs when i'm playing a game.

for example, when i'm on the internet browsing, watching videos on you tube, chatting on aim, listening to music, downloading things, the computer is fine, no restarts no nothing at all even if i do all this for 5+ hours.

now when i play a game like runescape, it restarts/froze/crashed, when i tried playing street fighter iii on a emulator i downloaded, it restarted/froze/crashed, when i tried playing nitto racing it did the same, and now i'm playing a game called perfect world and it does the same as all previous games.

note that it doesn't restart as soon as i turn the game on, it usually lets me play for about 5 mins maybe 10 mins tops than it restarts freezes or crashes.

my brother said he thinks its the video card because he said when he bought it, it was a refurbished one.

basic comp specs

OS: windows vista ultime
ram: 2gb
vid card: geforce 7800 gt
processor: amd athlon 64x2 dual core 5000+ 2.6 ghz

 

[vietxquangstah]

anyone know what the source of this problem could be? i tried downloading and installing the latest drivers already, still doesn't work. same problem.

could it be the graphics card or something else? i'm guessing graphics card since its refurbished...but anyone else know?

 

[dznutz]

probably heat or bad ram.

i'd blow on the cpu/heatsink with compressed air. do this with the computer off and switched off on the backside. also press the on switch a couple of times to discharge remanant electricity.

for ram testing run memtest or try out one ram at a time.

also.... are you saying sf3 third strike is playable on an emu? what kind of emu? cps3 or ps???

 

[vietxquangstah]

probably heat or bad ram.

i'd blow on the cpu/heatsink with compressed air. do this with the computer off and switched off on the backside. also press the on switch a couple of times to discharge remanant electricity.

for ram testing run memtest or try out one ram at a time.

also.... are you saying sf3 third strike is playable on an emu? what kind of emu? cps3 or ps???

cps3.

i had a link to this forum that tells you which mame file you need to download and all the roms to get it to work, but after i installed it and realized i couldn't play 3rd strike without my computer randomly rebooting or freezing, i just deleted that website from my favorites and uninstalled the program. wish i still had it so i could give it to you, but sorry i don't.

as for my problem, it's fixed now. some guy told me to download Driver Cleaner Pro than that messed up my computer even more...my game wouldnt start without an error so i restarted my computer than it said my network card wasn't available so i wasn't able to connect to the internet for a good 5-6 hours.

i finally did a system recovery and everything works fine now. i'm playing games on the computer and i have yet to see a crash random reboot or freeze.

i find it odd how a simple system recovery fixes those problems that i had...but atleast it works