Alright so we got the new computer up and running for the most part. However for reasons I can't explain it is apparently crashing.

He says it started happening after he downloaded COD4. He attempted to play and it told him to update his video drivers so he downloaded a new driver and installed it. After that when he attempted to run COD4, his computer would turn off. So he deleted the new driver and reinstalled the old driver. Once again he would play COD4 for a few minutes and his computer would shut off.

He says one time he wasn't doing anything (just at the desktop) and the computer shut off. He can apparently run it indeffinately in safe mode.

It sounds to me a bit like the computer might be overheating but I can't be sure that its not some other hardware problem or a software problem. Could a bad driver even cause a computer to restart?

I don't know why the cpu would be overheating though. It is in a coolmaster case, with 3 case fans, (front input, rear exhaust, side vent) and from what I understand he has installed the factory heat sink correctly.

Ram voltage maybe?

Since it started after he updated his graphics drivers it is most likely the graphic driver update. It is likely that the drivers did not remove themselves properly on uninstall. Might be worth checking the temperature on the card as well.

Boot to safe mode, and run Driver Cleaner, then reinstall the OEM drivers.
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"Oh, the searing kiss of hot lead. How I've missed you!" -Apu
Thothie

Wow. Hard shut offs? Yeah, my first thought is heat too.

Download Nvidia's Ntune product at http://www.nvidia.com/object/ntune_5.05.54.00.html . Run "Nvidia Monitor" and when it opens, click the little arrow in the bottom right to see a graph of the temperature of your video card. It will also tell you how fast your fans are spinning, etc.

His computer might also be suffering from lack of power. Hard shut offs will kill you if the computer tries to draw more power than the supply can handle. I would make sure the components on your machine aren't too much for the psupply you put in there.

--Locane

Driver/hardware conflict. Need to uninstall drivers restart and then install new ones.

I don't know, I thought that at first too, but I've never heard of drivers causing hard shutdowns. Especially not video drivers. He supposedly already reinstalled the old drivers, I told him to go ahead and run a driver cleaner and try reinstalling the OEMs again like Thoth suggested.

In the meantime, i also told him to try to adjust his DDR2 voltage. The kingston he is using requires 2.2v but I think his motherboard default is set to 1.8v