Yup, graphics cards eat up a lot of power and that would happen the moment a graphically intensive game got loaded. Turning down the settings to min should reduce the power and indicate if that is right or not. Also HEAT causes that, Oblivion needs a modern well vented tower with good air flow to work right (taking the side off is not a solution, it creates dead air). So it could be the graphics card over heading. More fans in your tower should help if thats the case but will make it worse if its a power problem. Giskard