Steam freezes

I have the following specs:


CPU- Core2Duo E4500 at 2.2(Stock speed)
RAM- 4GB "High Performance" by OCZ
Power Supply- 450Watt Xion
Video card- HD 2600XT SB edition by Diamond
2 hard drives- Both SATA
CPU cooler- OCZ Vendetta
2 DVD drives
3 fans (Including the CPU cooler)


My problem is, whenever I play a game on Steam (Orange Box), it "freezes".
Its not the regular freezing. Let me explain it the best I can, my PC remains powered (LED lights are on, fans spinning). My screen turns black, monitor doesn't recognize any input. My speakers play the sound that was last playing (Or the last like .5 seconds of it atleast) over and over. Only way out is to either unplug, or hold the power button for 3 seconds.

My temperatures don't go over 65 Celcius when this is happening, so it's not overheating. I'm thinking I need a bigger Power Supply? And yes, it only happens when playing games (I only have Orange Box right now, I have reinstalled it to no luck).

 

ahh the lovely world of steam...
do you have any emulation / anti DRM software on the machine like alcohol 120% or any thing like it?

 

You're describing an error that I had a few years back with a Gateway that I bought (Yes, I was that naive at one point). I had it happen for about a year and a half and, well, long story short, I'm never buying a company built computer again.

Anyway, because of the number of devices in your system (not necessarily the power of them), you are probably overloading your power supply. I'm pretty sure that's the reason I kept getting screwed over on my Gateway (It had a 150 watt/200 watt PSU or something). If that doesn't work... well....


-GSZB