Games Keep Crashing

Hey guys, I'm a first time user here and wasn't quite sure where to post this so please forgive me if I have misplaced this forum topic.

So here's the problem. I just recently upgraded my computer from a duo core to a quad core: Specs are:

Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)

System Manufacturer: BIOSTAR Group
System Model: N61PB-M2S
BIOS: )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PGProcessor: AMD Phenom(tm) 9750 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz

Memory: 3070MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3070MB RAM


I also installed a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti which I got from Zotac.

Anyway, whenever I enter a game, I'll notice that I'll be able to play for a few minutes only to have the game suddenly crash on me. At first I thought it had something to do with Bad Company 2, but afterwards it began to do it with other games. Even Sim City4 and TF2. So I assumed it was an issue with Steam, but when I played a non-Steam game the same thing happened as well.

I'm running out of ideas and growing rather frustrated. My suspicion is that something's wonky with the my video card, but I'm not quite sure. Also, I would like to add that I try running programs like Firestorm to check my GPU but they don't work properly either.

Any ideas folks? I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

If you haven't, remove all old graphics drivers from your previous card and install the latest driver for your 550. If that doesn't work, try doing a clean installation of windows. Making hardware changes without reinstalling windows can cause problems.

What's the age, model, and advertised power output of your power supply?

-Wolf sends

See if you can test your graphics card in another computer. Do you get the same issue?

Also see if you can go into BIOS and check the voltage levels coming from your power supply. If they seem off, that's probably the issue. Another option for testing your power supply may be something like this:

COOLMAX PS-228 Network/ PC Service Tools

-Wolf sends