GAMES CRASH!! HELP!!!

[scoobysnacks]

ok...i play a lot of games online...and lately they have been crashing a lot...especially Mechwarrior4 and Deus Ex....as time goes on they seem to crash more then they used to...i dont have a lot on my pc....just games really and a couple other programs....i have a dell P3 866 mghz....384 mb sdram...10 gig HD..vid and sound card etc...can someone tell me why they wopuld start crashing more and give ideas on how to fix?????? oh and also i ran pc pitstop and my HD cached and uncached speeds came up with a red flag....how do i go about fixing that also....i have this utility called cahceman but didnt have it running when i ran pcpitstop.....THNX FOR THE HELP!!!! :}

[iisbob]

Could be a dying hard drive or a heat problem, or even a power supply failure.

Do you get intermittent lockups? Open your case and see if it runs without crashing, this will help diagnose a heat problem.

If you can get ahold of another Power supply, hook it up and see if still crashes, this'll help rule out the PS.

Do you have a lot of noise and grinding from the drive when it's in use? have you started geting a lot of file errors on saving or trying to retrieve programs? This could be indicative of a hard drive failure.

As you can see it's not easy to diagnose a problem right off the bat, sometimes you have to dig a little. Post back here after you've had a chance to do these trouble shooting steps and we'll see what else the forum can come up with. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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iisbob
""I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know."
Mark Twain

[iisbob]

By the way, i alos play M4 online occasionally-you can usually find me under the moniker; Klaimoir of the house Mcduff. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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iisbob
""I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know."
Mark Twain

[scoobysnacks]

cool you play mech!!!! im a die hard mech head...lol.... next time your on the zone look for me as {DOA} Mechkilla in attrition servers....well i cracked the case open, so ill give it a day or two to see how it is...it didnt seem hot at all in there actaully...a bit dusty though...lol...my hardrive doesnt make any noises or nothing....my pc is only 7 months old so i dont suspect it being that.....however...after looking at my power supply, i dicovered its only 85watts!!!!!!! that should be illegal....i need something closer to 200-300 right?