Computer freeze while playing

hello, new to forums, anyways recently while playing any game, my computer freezes up and needs to be reseted. thinking it might be the CPU overheating. open up, covered in dust, cleaned everything out. then computer runs fine. playing WoW, steam games. and what not.

now recently when im playing TF2, after about 20min, game freezes, cannot do anything at all. have to reset the computer, everything is cleaned out. ran Spybot and AVG. nothing. i also get this retrieving pool data. and stays there for a bit, have to turn off the computer, wait 30min to an hour. then boots fine, sometimes less

anyways heres the log



------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 7/16/2008, 15:22:54
       Machine name: AMD6000
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Unknow
       System Model: Unknow
               BIOS: )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG
          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+,  MMX,  3DNow (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
             Memory: 2046MB RAM
          Page File: 335MB used, 3606MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
  DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
          Music Tab: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
        Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
     Manufacturer: NVIDIA
        Chip type: GeForce 8600 GT
         DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0402&SUBSYS_228B1682&REV_A1
   Display Memory: 256.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (85Hz)
          Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
  Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
      Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0011.6921 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 12/5/2007 02:41:00, 5773568 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: Yes
  WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 12/5/2007 02:41:00, 7435392 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4742-11

definitely still sounds like overheating...

make sure all your fans are spinnning and at their max
try speedfan and you can adjust fan speeds with that if your computer supports it

most likely over heating. could the thermal paste be the cause of it? because i did take off the heatsink to clean it off. and most of the paste was distorted from when i took it off.

Quote:
Did you clean off old thermal paste and apply new paste?

no, and most likely the cause of the O/H problem.

Definitely sounds like overheating, put the settings to 100% for all fans, see if that helps.

Quote:
I agree...

alright thanks for the help guys, guess i needa go out and get me some thermal paste....

Buy arctic silver ones, those are just better than others and the quality does matter.

I recommend putting a box fan next to your computer.