Ongoing lockups - advice please

[engiskhan]

Hi guys. Here's my setup:

Enermax 350 watt power supply
p4 2.4 ghz
ATI Radeon 9700 pro
512 MB Geil pc3200
Soyo platinum dragon ultra

My computer will lockup only when I'm gaming. I play WoW frequently. I tried different things and currently have the side panels off and a house fan blowing straight into the system. This prevents lockups....

I reseated my processor heatsink and video card heatsink tonight with antec silver. I tried gaming without the fan going and sure enough, I eventually locked up. Since I used antec silver on the processor and video card, I'm assuming that cannot be it. It would be nice to not have this big fan roaring right next to me, so I'd like to fix this problem. It has not always happened and seems to have materialized in the last 9 months or so. Is it possible for the mobo or ram to overheat? My ram has a copper heatspreader on it.

I appreciate any info guys. Thanks.

 

[engiskhan]

Simpler question for you guys. can a power supply or ram overheat? My system locks up without a house fan blowing straight into case when I'm gaming. I did the antec silver thing on the cpu and video card and no difference.

 

[danteshors]

Most lockups are due to heat. Try and pull off the side of the case and put a house fan pointing right into the components. If it runs good that you know your problem. If it does fix it, put a nice case fan in a good position and clean up your cable clutter to not impeed air flow. Good luck!