All games crash! Help.

[ICER]

I have a fresh install of Vista, updated 181.22 drivers for my 9800GTX, updated chipset drivers, updated BIOS, SP1 installed... all the stuff tech. support would tell you. lol
My specs: 9800GTX, Intel e6600 (OC'ed to 3.2GHz - don't worry, temps are cool), 4GB 800MHz DDR2 Corsair XMS2 RAM, EVGA 680i LT Mobo, 550W PSU

I am an experienced PC user, but I cannot seem to track this one down. Maybe it's because I am relatively new to Vista. I hope that is the reason. Here is my problem:

EVERY game I play crashes with a "<process name>.exe has stopped working" error. This includes all Steam games, World in Conflict, Rise of Legends. Yes, all games are patched and up to date.
I tracked down the errors in the system logs:
For World in Conflict I am getting "faulting module kernel32.dll"...
For Rise of Legends I am getting "faulting module Legends.exe"...
For Steam I am getting "faulting module gameui.dll_unloaded"...

I have been unmotivated to try any other games. The crashes are random too... I can play WiC for hours without a crash, then load it up the next day and it crashes in the first 10 minutes.
It's not my temps... I am running Riva Tuner and monitoring my GPU temps constantly. They are normal for this card - hovering around high 60s. Never had these problems with XP.

I am stuck guys...

I love Vista. This is coming from a rabid XP user. But it looks like I might be switching back to XP - Being a hardcore gamer, I cannot take these random crashes all the time.


ANY suggestions would be more than welcome. I really want to make Vista work.

 

[sygnus21]

Check the card is correctly installed and that the power connector is hooked up. If all is good there, try switching drivers. Also check that your overclocks aren't the cause of your gaming issues.

Lastly, I see you have a 550W PS, though I'm not one for encouraging people to upgrade to super duper power supplies (wattage wise), for your system you "might" have to look at a higher wattage PS (maybe 650-750).

I myself am running an Antec 550W PS and have an ATI 4850, however If I were to upgrade my video card to a 4870 or go crossfire with my 4850’s I’d upgrade my PS to around a 650 or so.

 

[Klaudius]

Intel e6600 (OC'ed to 3.2GHz - don't worry, temps are cool)

My first guess would be, clock the CPU back to original speed and see if the games work correctly.
There is no real need for overclocking anyway because the realized gain is almost insignificant these days, its not like going from a Pentium 200 to a 220. Your going to gain what ? A frame per second? maybe 2 ?

If that's not it, I would say its software, maybe the video driver or gnomes.
Dont ever discount gnomes.