Freeze/lockup problem

[RogueNine]

Ok, my problem is my game occasionally locks my entire computer up. I say occasionally, because sometimes it happens after 15 minutes and sometimes it doesn't happen for 6-7 hours. (Yes, I'm guilty of playing for 6-7 straight hours. ) My specs, and what I've done to try to fix this:

Chip: Athlon 64 2800
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA K8NS
RAM: 2 sticks of 512 MB PC-3200 with heatsinks (dunno brand, but good)
Audio: Audigy
Video: Nvidia 6800GT

I've used a program to completely remove my old video cards and installed the latest. I've updated my sound card drivers as well as my nForce3 drivers.

Nothing else crashes my computer, not even 4-5 hours of heavy RTS/FPS gaming from my friend, and my case temps are just fine, so I'm convinced its not a heat or config error. This rig has been running perfectly with every game I play for two months as well.

The error makes my screen turn about a million colors all over the screen, with the music slowly stuttering out, until my monitor turns it off and I'm forced to cold boot. I've taken to saving regularly, but its still quite the pain when it happens.

Is this something someone else has experienced? I thought about doing a search but 'million colors error' wasn't likely to produce anything. Anyone have any idea what it could be? My first instinct is video driver, but I have the latest one from the Nvidia website. I'm definitely not interested in trying all the old drivers I have, so I'm hoping this might be something else.

Thanks for any help,
Rich

 

[Mazruk]

I had similar problems when I upgraded to a 6600gt (before I got civ BTW)

Lots of fiddling with nVidia drivers and mobo bios drivers/settings (and going through 3 PSUs as I thought there was an issue there too) eventually got it stable enough to run 3dmark05 without crashing instantly at the switch to 3d mode.

When I got Civ4, everything was fine and dandy. Not a single crash or graphical issue.

 

[RogueNine]

I currently run 3dmark2005 without a hitch, and can play CS: Source, C&C:ZH, Sim City 4, NHL 2006, RTW, CoD and MVP 2005 without any graphics problems whatsoever. From reading other threads I can see that I'm actually one of the luckier ones who is actually able to play. A shame they let this game ship in this state, but I suppose its the only way to get a large beta test group size.

*Puts game away and waits for patch*