3D Games crashing to desktop / crashing computer

[skypilot]

I recently completed a new build with the following:

GeForce 7100 Motherboard
E5200 (stock clock speed)
4GB DDR2-800 (2 sticks of 2GB)
Nvidia 98000 GTX+ Video Card
500GB 7200.12 HDD
Vista Business X64

About 80% of the time I play a 3d game (QW:ET, Fallout3, Age of Empires 3, Dawn of War 2), it will crash to desktop or BSOD the computer anywhere from the first minute of playing to 20 minutes into playing.

* All temps are fine (video card stays under 60C, CPU cores under 55C).
* Nvidia drivers are the newest.
* CPU/RAM check out with all popular stress tests (memtest, intel stress test, pi, prime, etc)

I'm thinking maybe the power supply, but I bought a brand new 500 Watt one for this build (Link)... Is this PSU enough for this computer?

 

[skypilot]

Just ran 20x intelburntest cycles, all clear... however, just before this, fallout 3 crashed. odd...

 

[Schmide]

I see your problem. The 98000 is ten times the 9800. Kidding

Have you tried changing the power connectors to your card? Your PSU only has 1-6pin connector? If you're using an adapter, switch up the leads you're plugging into it.

 

[Quiksilver]

Sounds like a bum video card to me...

 

[angry hampster]

PSU.

 

[skypilot]

Am going to try a PCIe power adapter tomorrow, as opposed to the PCIe 6-pin coming off my power supply. On the other hand, it's a 500W power supply from a decent manufacturer... Shouldn't it be enough for a dual core chip and a single 9800 gtx+? One hard drive, one optical drive, a couple of fans... Cmon!

 

[Schmide]

Yeah that's a decent PSU, I thought you had to have 2 6pin adapters on your 9800gtx+?

 

[jamesbond007]

Have you read the dumps the BSOD creates using the Windows Debugging Tool? It's pretty nifty for finding out exactly what could be causing your crash. Hell, it could be a conflicting sound driver or some other program.

At least this way you know what file to look for. I actually used it a few days ago to find out that my friend's Abit GURU program was freaking out because he installed some other voltage monitoring app. It's nice!

 

[kmmatney]

Your PSU should be fine. It wouldn't hurt to test another PSU if you have one around, though.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Run some GPU-only tests like Furmark or OCCT's GPU test.