::DESPERATE HELP NEEDED::

ok guys and girls this is a desperate plee from a fellow gamer, i have this problem constantly.. ... .... .....
and am baffled on how i can fix it.. ... .... ..... these are the problems i have and when it usually happen's.

• PROBLEM AND OCCURANCE
• games halt about 3 to four minutes in...
• i hear a stutter of the game audio
• and then my pc decides to freeze completely fan and hard drive and cpu still apppear to be active?

it has also happened when i am either watching a dvd or a movie on my pc and also some times when i am listening to mp3's???

i was recommended trying to upgrade my ram from 256 to 512 (pc3200) to solve the problem? a i know from experience when games freeze it usually means there is either a lack of physical memory avialable or there is a confliction somewhere..

i bought some new ram and i thought it would solve the problem for good but it didnt ??? i still did the same...

i now feel it could have something to do with my GPU due to the fact that it seems to only happen when my pc is pushed more than usuall
::for instance when playing THE FARCRY DEMO it used to freeze almost instantaniously where'as if i play MOH:AA online it take's hours to encounter a problem if at all..

this is getting to be a very large problem as i am unable to enjoy any demos or games new and old....
PS. i can get DOOM III Beta 2 running at about 35 Frames so i dont think its my spec's nevertheless here they are:.

AS'Rock MotherBoard k7s8x (8x agp 400mhz blah blah)
AMD ATHLON XP T'Bred 2600+
512ddr pc3200
Asus GeForce FX5600 256ddr
60gig seagate HDD 7200rpm
other trivial stuff......
WINDOWS 98 (also has same problem with XP and have formatted to no outcome)
please can you advise me on what you feel would solve the problem..... :thumbup:

1: We at GH do not allow any chat or describing of 'Warez' (which Doom 3 beta is, ofcourse, stolen illegal property)

2: If formatting didn't work, try an updated power supply, Motherboard, so forth..

If you are useing a sound card in a PCI slot try putting it in a different slot.

maybe something is overheating.

yeah it's very likely that it's a heat problem. install motherboard monitor and check what temperatures you get. if they're very high then the cooler isn't mounted properly, in which can you need to take it off, possibly clean it, and make sure you install it right

yeah also some Arctic Silver thermal compound might be good.

cheers guys for your help im sure i have installed the cpu cooler correctly as my cpu temp runs smoothly at 43/45 degrees B)

will install mobo monitor thought thanx for your help

all my hardware is fairly new mobo