[spunk.funk]

I opened the casing and looked on the side of the PSU.

We need the Wattage not the input or output

 

[spunk.funk]

it's a number, followed by the word Watts. as in 230 watts

 

[spunk.funk]

Max Power 360W

360 watts is not enough power to run an nVidia 9800 GT GPU. You need at least 550 Watts and a name brand PSU.

 

[spunk.funk]

PSU may fail at any time. Is this the only game or program that is suffering?

 

[spunk.funk]

So.....currently my monitor is connected via a VGA cable and is plugged into the VGA port at the back of my computer.

In the above picture, it shows a Video card. If your not using a card like the picture, but your using the onboard graphics (up higher, closer to the Ethernet, and USB ports) then you do not have to switch anything in the Bios. Just use the DVI port to see if that works. If you are using a card, and the DVI port does not work then try removing the card and use the onboard VGA port.

 

[spunk.funk]

1: Do you have a video card like the picture in post #25 that is lower in the case?
2: Do you have a VGA port on the back of the computer higher up by the USB ports?
3: if you have a VGA that is part of the motherboard (onboard higher up) Remove the video card and use the onboard VGA.

 

[spunk.funk]

VGA is the blue one and DVI is the white one

As shown in picture in post #25.
Usually there is not an Onboard DVI, nothing to change in the Bios, other then to remove the Video card if there is an onboard VGA.

 

[spunk.funk]

my hard disk has started malfunctioning. Cyclic redundency errors.

CRC errors are caused by either a miss communication with the computer (Bad Data cable, not enough power) or more likely, bad sectors on the HDD.
When formatting the drive, do a Full Format (Not a Quick) and/or tests with HDD Diagnostic tool.

 

[spunk.funk]

2 hours in.....halfway done.....

This is not a good sign. This means there are a lot of Bad Sectors. This may fix it to be useable for a while but I wouldn't use it as a boot drive.