Allright i have a scratch build that i just got together. The only reason i built this system is for gaming{ie. UT2004, Doom3, Rainbow6 3}. The system runs good untell gaming it will let me play awile and then freezes and has to be shut down, i have tried turing down frame and texture settings and everything it does the same old thing. I have got all the latest drivers for all hardware like i said the first power-up on this thing was about a week ago. i am running a pentium 4 presscott at 3.0gigs./ 1.0gig ram/ powercolor 9250 256 meg video card and a 160gig 7200 rpm hard drive there is no reason for this system to crash.... PLEASE HELP ANYONE, TY SO MUCH John.

I'm guessing it's one of two things...overheating or bad psu. Experiment...take the side off your computer and try again. If it doesn't crash, it's overheating. BTW, list make and model of your power supply including wattage. "...but in my defense, it was dark, I was drunk, and it was delicious!"

psycho i have a 400 watt powersupply that came with my bare-bones system... is that enough??

What brand is it? "...but in my defense, it was dark, I was drunk, and it was delicious!"

Powmax,, i'm not sure if it is a 400 peak or continues{sry i suck at spelling} would that make a difference??

Powmax aren't good power supplies. However, take the side off and see if it still crashes. If it still does, test the power supply with a multimeter or replace it to see if it's the power supply. Recommended replacement power supply... http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=17-153-007&DEPA=0 Good deal since they're shipping it free right now, but if they stop that, they also make a 420W for around $40 shipped. "...but in my defense, it was dark, I was drunk, and it was delicious!"

allright psycho i took your advice and got that powersuplly that your showed me. IT STILL DOES THE SAME THING WHILE GAMING... i added 2 more case fans and the system is now running very cool so it is not overheating... when i got my video card i went cheap and got a powercolor 9250 for $65 on newegg. u think that i might need to go ahead and spend the money on a good invidia card and if so con u recamend a good one for ut2004 and doom3??? i don't really care about the money i already got about $700 in this scratch build and a couple more won't hurt...lol ty for all your help....