Help - At my wits end!

[Angrynfrustrated]

I recently got a new pc and installed vista ultimate 64 bit. It was going
fine until I started playing games (this has happened on every game I tested
so far). I'd be able to play for about 10 minutes to half an hour and then
the entire computer freezes. It also happened once while i was compressing
files to a .rar archive. I re-installed the drivers multiple times, installed
the service pack and all updates, nothing I tried would work.

I then in my frustration reformatted the entire computer and only installed
nvidias drivers without updating anything (or service pack) and I still had
the problem. It's really frustrating me and it makes my computer unusable as
I'm primarily a gamer. If somebody could help I would really appreciate it.
Here's the system specs just in case

Vista Ultimate 64 bit
Intel Quad 2 Q6600
8gb ram
(2) 8600GT running in sli mode (didn't fix my problem whether it was on or
off)
ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard

 

[Angrynfrustrated]

Thanks ribeiro, I don't think it's a matter of cooling considering it's a
brand new system, but I could be completely wrong. The power supply btw is
750W from memory. As for the temperature, could you tell me how exactly I
could monitor these things and how hot is too hot? Thanks for the help, I
really appreciate it.

 

[dullpain]

Ignoring your choice of 64 bit Vista:
Crashes you describe are most often due to heat, power supply failure, RAM
failure or hard drive failure.
Heat can be tested by removing the side panel of your presumed desktop,
making sure the CPU cooling fan is spinning and aiming a small electric fan
at the motherboard.
Hard drive failures and RAM failures often generate random blue screens
before they die, which you do not describe.
My bet is that your power supply is a dud. This is a very frequent and
underappreciated problem. Most power supplies that come from OEMs,
especially in lower priced boxes, or with a case are poorly made and unable
to supply anything near their rated power under demand, like when playing a
game. Hence replacing your OEM power supply with another like one will not
solve your problem.
If you can afford it you will probably be best off spending the money to buy
a decent 500w power supply from a reputable vendor, particularly if you are
using a high end power hungry video card that requires its own power cord.

 

[Angrynfrustrated]

The choice of 64 bit vista was so that I would be able to utilize more than
half my ram. As for the power supply, I double checked and it's a 650W one.
Is there a specific test to see if you're right about the power supply? I
somehow doubt that it's the power supply (although to be fair, if I did know
I wouldn't be coming here). It happens even in games like Morrowind which are
very old, i.e 2002 and I don't think would put a strain on anything much.

 

[PvdG42]

The choice of 64 bit vista was so that I would be able to utilize more
than
half my ram. As for the power supply, I double checked and it's a 650W
one.
Is there a specific test to see if you're right about the power supply? I
somehow doubt that it's the power supply (although to be fair, if I did
know
I wouldn't be coming here). It happens even in games like Morrowind which
are
very old, i.e 2002 and I don't think would put a strain on anything much.

Nobody here is going to be able to offer more than initial suggestions
unless you start answering questions.
Have you measured your system's CPU and case temperatures both at idle and
while gaming? What were the readings? Who built the computer? Do you have a
warranty you can exercise?
What brand and model is the PSU? What are the ratings on the +12v and +5v
rails? Are there multiple 12v rails?
Just because the PSU says it's 650 W means very little. A hardware setup
like yours could easily overstress a cheap OEM PSU rated at 650W.
Have you run a memory stress test to see if you have any memory issues?
MemTest 86 is a good one:

http://www.memtest.org/