Demanding applications (like your games) will take no time to heat up a processor. AMD's earlier processors tend to be a bit weak on the thermal side (especially when it comes to emergencies).also happens after i turn off my comp for 4 hrs and it is compleatly cooled down
So after you've determined that software is not causing the problem, it's probably the hardware (and probably a thermal one at that).
Immediately after a crash, take a good smell of the case (actually worked in one instance!); if you smell something burning, it is more than likely a temperature problem.