Crashing/Autoreboot Problems

[flushentitypack]

I have a problem with my system either freezing up or rebooting automatically when I play games like Warcraft 3, and especially Diablo: LOD. For Warcraft, on and off it crashes from 10 minutes to an hour of play. Sometimes it doesn't crash at all. Similar problems on Call of Duty 2 and Battlefield 2. On Diablo, it refuses to even finish loading a game before it reboots the computer.

Although this sounds like a heating problem, ASUS Probe says I've only got around a 29-32c temperature on all my chips even on load. It is not overclocking either, it's not enabled. Here is my Everest computer summary.

Summary

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Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name TSUNAMI
User Name Ron

Motherboard:
CPU Type AMD Athlon 64, 2633 MHz (12 x 219) 4200+
Motherboard Name Asus A8N-E (3 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x4, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN)
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce4 Ultra, AMD Hammer
System Memory 1024 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (08/22/05)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 6600 PCI-E
Monitor Samsung SyncMaster 711N/712N [17" LCD] (HCJX624443)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter nVIDIA MCP04 - Audio Codec Interface

Storage:
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Parallel ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller A347SCSI SCSI Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive SAMSUNG SV8004H (80 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8160B (16x/48x DVD-ROM)
Optical Drive MITSUMI CR-48X9TE (24x/10x/40x CD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 71258 MB (49908 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse HID-compliant MX510 Optical Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport (192.168.0.102)

Peripherals:
USB1 Controller nVIDIA MCP04 - OHCI USB Controller
USB2 Controller nVIDIA MCP04 - EHCI USB 2.0 Controller
USB Device Logitech USB MX510 Optical Mouse

[saphalline]

It is not overclocking either, it's not enabled.

CPU Type AMD Athlon 64, 2633 MHz (12 x 219) 4200+Actually, it is OC'ed. Check that again. The HT link is at 219 instead of the 200 default. Even so, if it's not a heat problem, it's probably not an OC'ing problem, either.

I'd say it's a driver-related problem off-hand. When is the last time you updated your drivers?

[flushentitypack]

Maybe a week ago.

[saphalline]

Which drivers have you updated? And more importantly, where did you get them?

[ski]

Here's a list of the usual suspects that can cause rebooting:

-Everything not completely seated on the motherboard.

-Overheating
<<This does not appear to be applicable in your case.>>

-Overtaxed or bad power supply
Swap it out with a different(preferably higher wattage) unit.
Also, always use a reliable brand, like Antec or Enermax. Off name cheap brands(even high powered units) can have one voltage leg that's insufficient to handle the load.

-Bad memory
Run Memtest86 and if problems are reported then-> remove and reinsert the memory a few times, if using multiple modules then install just one module at a time and try it in different slots, do not use any optimal settings for the memory in BIOS, and swap it out with known good memory.
Also, do not mix parity and non-parity memory.

-Bad video card.
Make sure it's fully seated, it's fan is running, and its heatsink is securely mounted.
If those are ok, then swap it out with a known good card.

-Bad MB.
Check for bulging, leaking, or ruptured capacitors.
If they look ok, then swap it out with a known good MB.

-IRQ conflict with a network card.
If no problems show up for the NIC in Device Manager, then remove it from DM, shut down, uninstall the card, and restart.

-Viruses and spyware.