Computer keeps shutting down when playing 3d games...

[TheOneJordan]

SYSTEM SPECS:
AMD Athlon 64 4200+
ATI Radeon 4850
1.5GB of Ram
120GB Hard Drive

So here is my story! I sell my computer to a friend that then gives it to his nephew. His nephew trys playing Fallout 3 on it but when he gets 3 levels in the computers shut down. The games does not freeze/cash, the actual computer shuts down. He brings it back to me and is like do whatever you can. I instantly (being stupid) assume the processor is overheating so I add a Freezer 64 Pro to it and replace the old 120mm fan that was old with a new one. Let's do this damn thing! Starts the game up again and starts playing it again then BLAM! The computer shuts down again... *scratches my head* I now download Speedfan to check my temperatures on everything and low and behold my graphics card was hitting 78 degrees C and then shutting down! Got it! Replace the 8600GT with an ATI Radeon 4850. Install it and start playing the game... Yeah... It happens again... WTF! I posted on the Fallout 3 forums and asked them what they think... 3 replies all say that it is the power supply! So, after almost crying in the inside I go and buy a 650W Antec Earthwatts power supply! Install this bad boy and everything is running smooth (well can't really tell but whatever lol)! Go to play his game, then BAM! Computer shuts down again. What is next?! Ram?! Hard Drive?! I am running out of things to replace here! lol

Any questions/comments would be greatly appreciated!

[TheOneJordan]

Originally Posted by scylla

It may not be a hardware issue at all, you may have a pirated copy that someone edited to shutdown when it reaches a certain point in the game, have you tried playing any other games on that computer?

Game is 100% legit because I have the CD in the CD Drive and it's the original Fallout 3 CD.

[TheOneJordan]

Originally Posted by scylla

What happens when you play other games? Does the computer want to shutdown during them as well?

Same thing happens just takes more time. This one apparently makes it happen the fastest. I am about to try replacing the processor because I just tested all the memory and their fine. Same with the HD.

[TheOneJordan]

Originally Posted by scylla

It looks like you only have 1.5 gigs of ram, most people have 2, 4, 6 or even 8 gigs of ram. I'd try getting 4 gigs of ram first.

Minimum requirements for the game on XP is 1gb so it still should be able to run fine.

[F4tal3rror]

The system specs look fine. I don't see any NEED to upgrade anything there. personally, i run a higher spec system, but that's me, as i was saying, the computer should be able to run fallout 3 quite adequately.
Could you try running core temp and tell me/us how hot your computer is running?
I'm not sure how hot that graphics card is meant to run, but for a cpu, that would be boarding/going over the max temp.
Look online to find the guidelines for temperature. that sounds very hot.
How is the case cooling? what fans are you using for intake/output and any specialised cooling where applicable?
Is everything running on stock (as you get it) speeds, voltages?

[F4tal3rror]

Sorry for the double post, but my other post is pending approval, apparently.
I'd also like to add a side-note that windows xp 32bit doesn't take full advantage of the full 4 gigs of ram, should you have that much.

[thesmokingun]

sounds like you had the problem pegged the first time, it's probably the video card overheating. is there proper air flow in the case? try using rivatuner to up the gpu fan to 100% and play the game.

http://majorgeeks.com/Riva_Tuner_d737.html

a tutorial on how to use it here:
http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=rivatuner&menu=8

do you have a limit set in the bios for maximum cpu temp?

the fact that you have 1.5 gb of ram might suggest that the ram isn't compatible. what ram config do you have? (is it 1gb and 512mb? , or 3x512mb? ) you can use memtest to make sure the ram is ok http://majorgeeks.com/MemTest_d350.html