Graphics card keeps Crashing, please help

[wertyer]

Awhile ago I got a new graphics card for my computer a 256mb agp 8x visiontek ati radeon x1550.  It crashing whenever I try to play a game with good graphics (half-life 2, COD4, etc).  I asked for help on another forum and i was told that a new psu was what I needed.

I just got a new psu for Christmas (OCZ 6000w)  and it still crashes.  I just installed the latest drivers drivers for my card and the latest version of microsoft NET framework and still crashes. 

i have been trying to get this card to work for six months and I would be sooo happy if anyone could help me get it to work!

My motherboard is an Intel Corporation D845GERG3 AAC29595-101, i have 1gb of RAM, and my processor is an Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz

[Calum]

Welcome to the forums, wertyer.

It may be that the card is either overheating, or does not support some features needed for those games.  However, if the card was doing this when it was new, I don't think that's the case.
In any case, that's a very low end card, so I'd advise getting a better one if you want to play modern games.

[wertyer]

Thanks for the fast reply!  Although that really sucks.  The card does have a fan, so I don't know why it will overheat.  Also there are some really old games that it crashes on like Max Pain.  Also i can get the games that crash to run at a really good speed but then they just randomly crash out of nowhere.  Also the more I try to play a game the faster it will crash.  Some games that I play will work perfect for about 30 mins and then they will start to crash.  Hopefully this info will give you enough to give me a real solution (I don't have enough money to buy new card right now and I really just wanna play half-life 2).

[Calum]

If you leave your computer off for a while, and then try to play a game, does it take longer to crash?
That would indicate a heat problem.
Also, what exactly happens when the games crash?

[wertyer]

Well I've never tried turning my computer off for a while, but when it crashes there are a few ways it does it.  Sometimes my screen will just go black, sometimes the game freezes and my computer makes this really loud sound, and sometimes the screen will get distorted, but sometimes my catalyst drivers recover from this.  And I will try turning my computer off now.

EDIT:  I just tried leaving my computer off and it DEFIANTLY made a difference, so I guess it was overheating.  So to fix that can I just buy a new fan?

[Calum]

Clean out your system, inside.
www.computerhope.com/cleaning.htm <-- that should help.
Let us know.

[wertyer]

Just tried cleaning it and it didn't really help very much.  I also tried using ati tray tools to change the fan speed, but I couldn't make it change.  Also I'm starting to think it might not be an overheating problem because I've noticed that when I play a game that works before I play a game that crashes then it works better.

[Calum]

That's quite odd then, I for one am not sure what the issue is but someone else may have some ideas for you.

[wertyer]

Thanks for your help anyways.  I hope someone else will be ale to help me.