Problem with new build

[Studio2LH]

Hi all. I got my build completed at the beginning of this week, and it worked great save for 2-3 crashes while playing crysis. My friend overclocked my cpu from 2.8 to 3.15 yesterday and since i can only play ~10 minutes of any game before i get "xxx.exe encountered an error and needed to close bleh bleh" or it just closes to windows.

I want to make sure that the overclocking is the problem, and it does seem to be since i didn't change anything other than that.

AMD athlon x2 64 black brisbane 2.8 (at stock)
2 gigs(1x1) crucial memory
500 Sata seagate barracuda
Arctic freezer pro 7
apollo black case
9800 gt EVGA
Windows XP home edition SP2
Biostar TA780G Motherboard
Antec Basiq 500w PSU

I have the latest drivers on everything and i used memtest86+ which turned up false on any RAM errors. I'm very frustrated.

Could it be that i need SP3? Windows update asked me to update to SP3 today but i turned it down.

My CPU is only at ~50 C when it crashes and my GPU has been anywhere between 50 to 65 C when it crashes.

I don't get a blue screen.

Any help would be appreciated! I hope no permanent damage has occured. Be sure to tell me if i need to provide any more info.

[chuck4456]

Which motherboard?
Which power supply?
Did you set your CRUCIAL RAM to its required timings and voltage?

[Studio2LH]

I edited my post to include that info. How do you set your RAM voltages etc. What does that do, and how do i know which settings to use. Thanks!

[shadowpr]

Did you get the crashed before or after you overclocked?

Have you removed the overclock already?

[Studio2LH]

it only crashed once or twice before the OC, but that was a different crash (it just froze, no error message). I can't undo the OC (i think) because my friend did it for me. Is there a way where i can just go in my bios and say "restore defaults?"

My friend was sure he knew what he was doing because he oc'd the same processor for his built to 3.2 Ghz.

The only other change i can think of is that i switched the power connections to my GPU:
My GPU came with an adapter that split a 6 pin connector (to the card) into two 3 pins. I used one of those two. At the same time of the OC i changed that setup to one where i simply plugged a 6-pin from my power supply into the card (my friend said not enough power could be a problem). After getting the problems, i switched back to the first setup. I thought that solved it because i played crysis for a full 30 minutes. but after trying again, the problem came back.

Thanks!

[shadowpr]

Read your motherboad manual and see how to restore the defaults.

You might have to turn everything off, unplug the power cable to the powr supply, and then remove the motherboard battery.

See if you get any errors after you restore to defaults.

[Studio2LH]

I found an option "resore to optimal defaults". I clicked it on and restarted, and no errors. I can play crysis now (so far up to 45 minutes)! I'm glad that fixed it (i hope it stays fixed). I wonder why overclocking would cause a problem like that. My cpu wasn't hot...

any ideas? Thanks for the help shadowpr and others

[shadowpr]

To be honest, it probably wasn't overclocked right.

But any overclock is pushing the system beyond what it is made for, and you need to expect problems.

[Studio2LH]

awesome thanks. Unfortunately my seagate drive broke so i have to wait for the replacement to come before i can do anything with my computer.