Computer Hang/Freeze/Crash

[ajmufc]

My computer's specs are -

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3Ghz Processor
4GB DDR3 ram
Nvidia 9800gt 512mb graphics card

My Issue - Recently, I have been experiencing this issue where, when I'm playing a game (eg. Pro Evolution Soccer 2013/Blur/Borderlands 2/FIFA 12/Sleeping Dogs) my computer crashes after say 10 minutes of game time.

Counter Striker 1.6 and Condition Zero seem to be working fine though. The comp has NEVER crashed when I play these two.

Interestingly, I was skyping one day and playing, when my comp crashed and as it turned out, my skype call continued.
YES, It didn't get cut.

Every time I face this issue, I have to press the restart button TWICE to get the computer running.

4 days ago, the comp crashed twice while running a movie.
But hasn't crashed on movies since.

Any opinion would be of great help. Thanks a lot

 

[ajmufc]

Forgot to add, I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit OS

 

[Gman450]

Check the temps on your CPU and GPU. Use a this-
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
Download, install and check the temps when at idle and at full load. Then report back with your results. PS, are you using the latest drivers for your video card?

 

[AntiZig]

check your temperatures, most likely dust clogged heat sinks

 

[ajmufc]

I have the latest graphics driver. Downloaded from the Nvidia site.

About the temperature, I had opened my cabinet to check how hot the graphics card got while the game was running. It was fine though, no overheating as such.

 

[AntiZig]

umm, did you actually get a program to check temps or feel around the case with your hand?

get something like hwmonitor or hwinfo and check what the maximum and average is when you're trying to run the game.

ALso, what PSU make and model do you have? how old is the PSU?

 

[Gman450]

Check the temps using the program I told you to use.