Hello, Im having a weird and frustrating problem, wasn't sure where to post this! Anyway, the problem started with a 3d game (cod4); my system would randomly crash after a few minutes of play - the monitor would go into power save mode and I would have to manually reboot with the power button to get back into windows, and if I didn't wait a few minutes after switching off the pc before repowering it would often crash into the same blank screen on the windows boot. Then this started happening while in the menu of the game, not actually playing. And now it's occuring in the BIOS! At first after about 2 minutes in BIOS the pc would crash in exactly the same way as it did in cod4 (monitor goes blank, have to reboot), but now as soon as I enter BIOS it will crash (within 5 seconds). Temperature is normal btw. Before the BIOS crashes began I suspected it was power supply problems, overheating or driver related, and I reinstalled everything short of a full reformat. I also removed an X-Fi soundcard that I got recently in case it was power related but that didn't help... and now since the crash is occuring in the BIOS (i was in there to disable onboard soundcard) I have no idea what to do, I'm worried it's a virus or something, although a full system scan with Kaspersky doesn't turn anything up. If anyone could give me a hint on what to do now I would be very happy, as I am really very frustrated and I am totally out of ideas. Even a reformat seems useless since the crash (which started when playing a 3d game) is now happening in BIOS! ps: Windows works fine - the only times I've experienced this crash is when I'm either playing cod4 or in BIOS (?!). Thankyou very much in advance, system specs below: Windows Vista Ultimate (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 6001) Enclosure Type: Desktop Processor a Main Circuit Board b 2.40 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo 64 kilobyte primary memory cache 4096 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 965P-DS3 Bus Clock: 266 megahertz BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. F4 08/11/2006 Drives Memory Modules c,d 320.07 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 194.70 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space LITE-ON DVDRW SHW-160P6S ATA Device [CD-ROM drive] WDC WD3200JS-00PDB0 ATA Device [Hard drive] (320.07 GB) -- drive 0 4096 Megabytes Installed Memory Slot 'A0' has 1024 MB Slot 'A1' is Empty Slot 'A2' has 1024 MB Slot 'A3' is Empty Local Drive Volumes c: (NTFS on drive 0) 104.86 GB 41.48 GB free d: (NTFS on drive 0) 215.21 GB 153.22 GB free Network Drives None detected HP LaserJet 1020 on USB001 Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort: Controllers Display ATA Channel 0 [Controller] (3x) ATA Channel 1 [Controller] (3x) Intel(R) ICH8 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller - 2825 Intel(R) ICH8 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller - 2820 Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT [Display adapter] CMO CMC 19" AD [Monitor] (19.1"vis, May 2005) Bus Adapters Multimedia Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2830 Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2831 Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2832 Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2834 Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2835 Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 2836 Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 283A High Definition Audio Device Communications Other Devices 6TO4 Adapter 6TO4 Adapter 6TO4 Adapter isatap.vic.optushome.com.au Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller primary Auto IP Address: Gateway: Dhcp Server: Physical Address: Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #3 Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface Networking Dns Servers: HID-compliant consumer control device (2x) HID-compliant device (3x) USB Human Interface Device (4x) HID Keyboard Device HID-compliant mouse Generic USB Hub USB Composite Device (2x) USB Root Hub (7x) Generic volume shadow copy pcouffin device for Amd 64 bits systems Virus Protection [Back to Top] Kaspersky Internet Security Version 8.0.0.357 Realtime File Scanning On Thanks again

If it's happening in the BIOS, it's most likely NOT a virus. You say the temp is normal, yet fail to back it up with any numbers. I guess we can safely assume your CPU idles under 40C then? Looks like your board is a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products... And your CPU is a "2.40 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo" with "Bus Clock: 266 megahertz" so it's probably an E6600: http://processorfinder.intel.com/de... You have 2GB of RAM but there's no info on make/model or speed. And I don't see anything listed about the graphics card or power supply. The power supply specs are very important because random reboots are often caused by an inadequate unit. Post back with the make/model, wattage & amperage ratings on the +3.3v, +5v & +12v rails.

Yes sorry about that, Im a bit of a noob to this. Hopefully this information is what is needed: Power supply says: Antec Model Neo HE430 430 Watt output AC input 100V - 240V~ 7A : 50HZ / 60HZ DC Output Voltage +3.3V +5V +12V1 + 12V2 + 12V3 -12V + 5VSB Max Current 22A 14A 16A 16A 16A 0.8A 2.5A Available Power 72.6W 70W 384W 9.6W 12.5W Total power 430W continous output @ 50 degrees temp RAM is: Kingston HyperX DDR2 THe processor is Intel® Core™2 Duo Desktop Processor E6600. Thermal design power 65W, VID Voltage range 0.85V - 1.5V Vid card is: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT Also the monitor is a bit old and is generic: CMO CMC 19" AD [Monitor] (19.1"vis, May 2005) I hope this is okay, thanks very much for the reply!

Oh and also, the temperature was 43 degrees, but BIOS crashed even if the computer has been switched off for a long time, within seconds of booting into BIOS. Also, I have flashed my bios this morning, the flash worked perfectly but the problem is the same. Thx

Your PSU is 430W, is very low for your computer specs, specially for that 7650GT. Seems to me that your machine is starving for power. At least a 600W PSU should be fine. Once upon a time the floppy disk was king.

7950GT I mean! Once upon a time the floppy disk was king.