system crashes during play

[Mintograde]

i have had a problem with cfs3 causing my system to crash during flight. This happens about 45 minutes into playing nearly every time i play.
about 30 seconds before my computer turns off and reboots, the screen will begin flashing with intermittent scenes from various parts of the game. It is almost like the screen turns into a time lapse camera, with evrything creating a trail as it moves. Different animations begin to flash on and off the screen, like the parachute moving back and forth next to the plane i'm flying.  ???
I can just barely read the options menu as i click quit and save. Then poof, the screen goes black and my computer restarts.

I am running windows xp pro on a new sony vaio pentuium 4 desktop. I have a radeon 9800 video card. I also have the no-cd patch.

If anyone could tell me why this is happening it would be very helpful.

[Bob_Ruff]

It sounds like it is overheating either the VC or processor. It seems it shouldn't but that would be my first guess. Make sure all air intake screens are clear of dust that might inhibit airflow and be sure fans are  up to the job required.
I would not run the no CD myself. Have you tried it with the CD patch removed and CD in? Just looking anywhere different.
Wulfamnn