Comp crashes when ram intensive apps are running

[derrick231]

Hi , I'm running an Asus p5k motherboard with nv geforce 8600 desktop
whenever i run any ram intensive (mostly video games: team fortress 2, WoW, Left 4 Dead, etc etc) my computer crashes. Most of the time my computer completely shuts down as soon as i launch the games. In reponse to that, i've tried scanning the hard drive, cleaning out all the dust within the tower with canned air, and many other things until i tried lowerng running the games while windows is on powersaving mode. While running on max. power saving mode on the AI suite by asus, comp doesn't crash when the games start up but crashes awhile after.. (say.... 10min?) . I'm wondering what wrong with my tower.. and how much $ am i looking at in order to fix it. What the little knowledge in hardwares for PC.. i'm guessing somethings wrong with the power supply..... can anyone helps? ^^


Edit: Another guess of mine is that electricity isn't being supplied throughout the tower evenly?

Much Thanks,
Derrick

 

[Tmagic650]

Replace the power supply first... Don't go too cheap

 

[spehling]

what size psu are you running? how much ram are you running?

 

[derrick231]

running on 2 gb ram and ... how do i check the psu size?

edit:
@Tmagic650
what if the problem persists after i replace the powersupply?

 

[Tmagic650]

"what if the problem persists after i replace the power supply?"...

Your video card is good. Your motherboard is good. You have already suggested that your power supply may be causing trouble, and I tend to agree with you. What is your current power supply? There should be a label on the side of the power supply that has the model name and WATTS ratings. If after changing the power supply there is no improvement, I would suspect video drivers then memory...

This is an ASUS motherboard... Maybe a bios update is needed

 

[derrick231]

@Tmagic650
its a 500v power supply
i'm looking a 550v power supply from my local bestbuy
thanks for the advices and 'll let ya know after i replace the stuffs

the strange thing is... my comuter's been running these applicatons fine until recently == 've been playing these games for at least half a year now
does the fact that my computer runs for at least 7 hours a day have anything to do with the problem i'm having right now? =[

 

[spehling]

your psu is plenty sufficient for your anything your running. Run memtest86 to verify that your ram is ok.

 

[snowchick7669]

I actually have a cousin who had the same problem. Replacing the PSU to a 650W didn't change anything, as I suspected that the GPU wasn't getting enough power.

Turns out that he HAD a virus which got removed (not sure completely). But found a lot of system files missing/corrupt. So that solved our issue as we just did a straight reinstall and reinstalled his games (last resort)

But I'd definitely look into the PSU like Tmagic650 suggested. Since your motherboard is ASUS and they can be particular about RAM, I'd also check the voltages in your BIOS and match those with your RAM manufacture recommended ones.

Maybe a virus scan too?

 

[Tedster]

run memtest 86+ for at least 7 passes. Boot from a floppy or CD.
Is your RAM exactly a supported brand and type for your motherboard? Asus boards are VERY picky on RAM