Hey guys. I joined because my PC has a problem and I hope to find the answer here

my specs:
AMD Athlon 64 3700+
512MB RAM
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO
Maxtor 130GB
Win XP Home Ed.

Ok so here's my problem.

When playing games such as F.E.A.R. or Half-Life/Deathmatch my PC will randomly just shut off and then reboot.


I don't believe the problem lies with the video card. I use it at home, and when the school year begins I bring it with me to my campus. At home, I never have this problem. I don't know if that helps.

I don't know if it could be the CPU. I use my PC with the case wall OFF so that the air conditioning reaches the inside. Whenever the machine reboots while I'm playing a game I feel the fan and averywhere else, and it does not feel that hot.

I also use the same exact RAM from back home. When the school year begins I bring those too. I use two 256ddr RAM chips.

I've done research on this and I can never get a straight answer. It's always, "the CPU is overheating" or "check your video card" or "check ur wiring" or whatever.

What else can cause this to happen???

I hope yu guys cn help me out. If u think u have an answer, please explain in a specific manner so that I don't miss any valuable info. THX GUYS.

-mark