Page 2 - Is this a cooling issue?

Instead of bickering off topic wait for the OP to respond. I have seen bad RAM only appear during software installations, other than that errors the PC gave no other symptoms. Logically you would think it would crash during any normal operation, but sometimes they (PCs) don't follow logic I guess.

Let us know how it goes OP, though I doubt you're going to learn anything because running Crysis via a virtual machine will surely stress the system as much as playing the game anyways; not sure if it will even load properly. Have you tried the fan method yet (take side off case and point a fan to the inside temporarily)?

He doesn't need to load Crysis via VM. He can load Starcraft; a game that doesn't require very powerful specifications. It's one of the problematic games he originally brought up.

Sorry for the delay, but I was sick all last week and finally got around to debugging this machine.

I've come to the conclusion that this is a CPU overheating issue, here's why:

I needed to burn a few DVD's for the family using CD Burner XP, and the system would lock up at different points of the burning process (thank god these are DVD+RW's, otherwise I'd have a bunch of frisbees). I fired up TPower II on my next burn attempt, and found the CPU rising up to 69 degrees celsius. T-Power II is set to shut off the system when the CPU hits 70 degrees, and I think that is what is happening. Now that summer weather is here and the AC in the house isn't on yet, the issue is becoming more noticeable because of the increased room temps. This may also be the reason why I can't post after rebooting until I shut the system off for a bit... I think the bios notices that the CPU isn't at a target temp to boot the machine and just hangs at the splash screen (does this make sense to you?).

Anyway, that's my diagnosis right now. What's funny is that I have a big third party cooler and artic silver 5 applied, so maybe the CPU is just dying (I've had it for quite a long time). *Thinking it is time to move on to a Phenom*

-Mike

I agree with you on thinking it's time to get a new cpu.