3D problems, what could be the problem?

[BFD Deadeye]

Hello, fellow tech-heads,

I have a buddy that is having some 3D problems. They just started all of a sudden, leading me to think it was a program he installed. He claims he hasn't installed anything other than the reinstallation of games. System specs:

Video card: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 Driver version 4.13.01.3082 64 MB Memory
OS: Windows 98 A 4.10.2222
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
CPU: 1201 MHz AuthenticAMD Thunderbird
Total Memory: 255 MB

He can't find the mobo manual.

Here is what he wrote to me:

"My system is wracked with the throes of 3D sadness. When I reinstalled Morrowind, it didn't work. Fair enough, some weird system thing must have happened that'll probably fix itself in a couple months. Later, the 1942 demo didn't work. Fine, it's some weird new demo that probably hasn't gone through enough QA. I picked up a cheap copy of Ghost Recon (the demo of which worked a few months ago), and that doesn't work either. Crap. Something is messed up. The pattern is always the same - loading the games is fine, setting up, whatever. When I finally get into engine, though, my system locks after a few seconds. Half-Life still runs fine, Wizardry 8 ran fine ... so I guess slightly older 3D stuff still works. Anyhow, I scandisked, defragged, and reinstalled the latest Detonators."

I had him reinstall Windows via setup/pf. He installed the newest VIA drivers, reinstalled directX, and loaded default BIOS settings. Still a no go. Any of you bright minds have a suggestion? Thank you for your time.

Randy

[DilLy]

hmm, bad video card. Maybe a memory stick is screwy. If a reinstall of Windows didn't help, then it may just be hardware related, not sure though.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Tell him to install and run 3DMark. If the program crashes then the ram is the culprit most probably. Or the VC.

It could also be overheating, what are his computer's temps?

And when was the last time he cleaned the innards of his PC?