Destiny needs some tech support!

[Destiny]

So, i have a decent wad of money after my birthday, and am thinking about upgrading my pc with some (or all) of it.

But i have a problem with my pc as it is, and i'm thinking it would be a good idea to replace the specific part in my pc which is causing the problem. That being said, i don't know which component is causing the malfunctions. I was hoping i could get some help from you guys about this.

So, my pc works perfectly, for about three hours after it's booted up. After said three hours, my punkbuster (anti-cheat system run by many games.) heartbeats keep stopping whenever i play CoD. About seven hours after starting up, i can no longer open any programs or files. When i try to, i get the error message 'insufficient system resources to complete specified task.'. Despite that, any programs i have open already (usually a mix of itunes, firefox, N game, and windows explorer.) work perfectly fine. But once i close them, they cannot be re-opened.

I have several anti-virus programs on my pc, and none of them say i have any viruses. This is what has led me to the conclusion that it is a component failure. The pc is beginning to age a little bit now :D

So back to my original question. Which component in my pc should i replace, in order to solve this program.

[scythe]

I highly doubt that's a hardware problem. Is your OS fully patched? If so, submit a bug report to the developers of whichever games are causing your system to freeze.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

I have several anti-virus programs on my pc, and none of them say i have any viruses.

Antivirus programs are like emotionally volatile women. Never have more than one running at one time.

Otherwise, it honestly sounds like your OS. If you have the original install discs for it around, you should backup & reinstall if similar weird problems like this come up. I doubt that other components in your computer are responsible for this.

That in mind, you may just end up using your money on more hardware, or a new computer altogether.
Here's a guide that goes over building an awesome gaming rig for only $500, if you have that much or more.

[Destiny]

Well, unfortunately i can't send an error report to microsoft, since my version of Windows XP was given to my mother as part of a deal between her work company and Microsoft. Since then the deal has ended, and all the OS's that were given out are no longer what microsoft deems 'genuine'. I re-installed it though, just as you've said. It doesnt seem to have changed any of my problems. I have my operating system on a seperate hard drive to everything else, and so i could format it and start from scratch no problem. Despite that, my pc seems dead-set on being a bitch after several hours. I am convinced it's a hardware problem. Google has revealed it could be a RAM problem, but if it was i think the problem would begin as soon as i start my pc up. Heh.

Also, about the antivirus thing. I'm aware they can conflict, so only one of them is active all the time. The others are just there so i can start manual scans when i need.

Also, that $500 pc looks pretty awesome, it's a shame i can't order half of the parts since im in the uk :(

[Vyacheslav]

First things first - what is your budget, your current system specs (processor, motherboard, hard drive, video card, etc.) and what do you want to upgrade?

[Destiny]

Budget - around £300 i guess. I'd like to spend less if i can.

Specs-

Processor:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 4400 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory:
1024MB RAM
Hard Drive:
320 GB
Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Monitor:
Plug and Play Monitor
Sound Card:
Realtek HD Audio output
Speakers/Headphones:
Logitech 2.1 Suorround
Keyboard:
USB Root Hub
Mouse:
Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse
Mouse Surface:
Mat
Operating System:
Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1 (2600.xpsp1.020828-1920)

Since that scan i've aquired SP3 (and 2 :P) for XP.

[otters]

Are you able to open Task Manager to check your CPU and memory usage at the end of those seven hours? NReality 6c2 would "build up" lag over time until it was hogging nearly my entire processor. I was wondering if this could be a more serious case of something like that.

[Vyacheslav]

Motherboard? This way I can determine what processor and RAM yo can upgrade to. I'd suggest, if your mobo allows, t bump up to 4GB RAM, get a better processor, and a new video card. Also, if you can, grab Vista/Windows 7. Otherwise stick to 3GB if you're sticking with XP.

[jean-luc]

Use a tool like the task manager (simpler) or perfmon (more detailed info but harder to read) to track down what process is using the resources. What you describe is almost certainly a software problem (there are possible hardware causes, but they're improbable). The fact that you keep your OS on a seperate partition may indicate that you're carrying the problem around with you in another partition, particularly if you're installing software back.

Let us know what's using the majority of resources when the machine becomes very slow.

[Destiny]

My motherboard is an MSI MS-7346 1.0

@jean-luc: Nothing is actually using up the resources, i can tell because anything that is already open still works perfectly. I can't open task manager once i begin getting that message though, as i get that message.