ok...this is crazy...the problem is still happening...but not as bad. this time i see "artifacts" in games but the game is playable, it does not freeze like it used to. so im wondering...could i be a harddrive problem? because the guy who tested it tried his harddrive with the new motherboard and he said the system runs fine. but with mine it doesn't...i have an extra harddrive ive never used so im going to try installing windows on it to see if that clears up the problem.