I can list the config if you're interested, but the important thing is that, long story short, this Core 2 Duo/DDR2 rig stopped crashing irrecoverably replacing the old CPU with a more powerful one (still C2D but going from e7200 to e8600 that I bought used for cheap). Spikes that used to be fatal have now become just spikes, with recovery in every single case and usually a smooth game afterward. Before, there were days I just had to stop playing or keep restarting the computer, which was frustrating.
I did also replace paste on the GPU cooler and replace the CPU cooler (but pretty much within the same class), but I think it was the added power and removed bottleneck which helped the system recover, either directly or through not need to overheat so much, in combination with that hypothetically small improvement to cooling/airflow.
Plus, the game is much more playable now when there's more to calculate and/or display, contributing to the general impression that resolving the bottleneck made the game run in a much friendlier way.
I did also replace paste on the GPU cooler and replace the CPU cooler (but pretty much within the same class), but I think it was the added power and removed bottleneck which helped the system recover, either directly or through not need to overheat so much, in combination with that hypothetically small improvement to cooling/airflow.
Plus, the game is much more playable now when there's more to calculate and/or display, contributing to the general impression that resolving the bottleneck made the game run in a much friendlier way.
