Processor Problems? Please Help The Know-nothing

[Sponge]

Lately, I've been having problems running HL, a N64 emulator I have, and anything else more taxing on my system than solitaire. The catch is that it doesn't happen all the time. After I start up my comp, I have a good hour or two before it gets unplayable. When it does, my FPS goes to Hell and the games become choppy. So far, the only solution is to restart the computer, but as you can imagine this can get frustrating, especially having to do it between rounds.

If someone can point me in the right direction and give me a keyword to search these forums for, I'd really appreciate it. If it helps, I have a Pentium III processor 700+ mHz (not sure the exact number; it's either 700, 733, or 750), 320.0 MB RAM, and a GeForce 2 MX (could be relevant, what do I know?). Someone suggested I might be using too much memory on my drives, but I have 600 MB free on my C drive, and 357 free on the E drive, where I keep everything I use, including HL and the emulator.

Thanks in advance.

[jsb]

a lot of times problems such as this can end up being heat related. in your case it could be either the processor or vidcard.

the only thing bothering me is that its fine after a reboot. usually a processor takes a little longer than a reboot to cool down. but id say check into that first.