Most games do not work on MSI KM2M L mother board

Sounds like a Video Card driver issue.  Usually a crash to desktop is a driver problem.  Download and install the latest drivers for your sound card and video card.  Unless it's all on board then look at the manufacturer.  Example, if it's an onboard NVidia card goto:

http://www.nvidia.com

If it's an onboad ATI card goto the ATI website:

http://www.atitech.com

You can determine what card you have by right clicking my computer and choosing Manage.  Click the Device Manager Option.  Click the plus beside Display Adapters (Assuming you're using WinXP).  Win9x right click my computer and choose properties.  Click the Device Manager Tab.  Click the plus beside Display Adapters.

Last thing to try is patching the game itself.  Some games have known issues with crashing to desktop.  Check their respective websites for updates.

The other possibility is that your Video card is over heating, or your CPU is over heating.  Does your mobo come with a CDRom that has utilities to monitor the heat given out by the CPU?  

To monitor the heat of the video card post what card you have so options can be given on how to monitor that.  Usually when a system over heats it will crash HARD.  Hang completely and you can't do anything but hit the power button.  

I have already done that. AC 97 latest version use to crash i have reverted back to previous version and i have updated my video drive for via chipset. I think we can rule out over heating problem since the game crashes whether you are running the pc for one hour or 5 minutes. Any other suggestions will be welcomed.....

Does Max Payne 2 even run on 256MB of RAM?  Could be a resource problem...sorry, I missed that in my first post....XP likes to run on 512MB or higher, 1GB preferred if you're running DirectX 9 Games, or games that push the system to the limit.

gosh i am hurt. Maxpayne is all ok until it gets to some level,then bingo it is all over back to square one. I land to my desktop with the game closing on its own. I have not noticed any performance issue with the game all is ok. I have tried to play games of IGI which have low requirements but alas i am at loss. I want to know whether it is due to MSI motherboard which is not well built for games..

Actually if its SAVAGE PRO, its a S3 videocard/Onboard

Have you tried allocating different amounts of memory for Onboard graphics ?

please, could you give guidelines so that i can do and check

Either you can do it /Display/Adapter/advanced

Or you have to set it in BIOS

Here is a link for s3 drivers

http://ranger.s3graphics.com/swlib/420drv/

 

As S3 has been out of business since 2001 I will strongly advise you to get a better graphics solution.

Onboard graphics and especically S3 SAVAGE is not suited for games

maybe it is ok, but you did not mention if it is a new build, or running system for some time.
If it is a new build, did you install the motherboard drivers, and all the rest?

I will give a try to what stockes has suggested and post the result. Nobus, yes i have already done that, because with out installing display drivers from mother board you wont even get normal resolution leave playing games......

As mentioned by Stockhes, on-board videocards are usually not suitable for high performance gaming. Due to the load of the northbridge when using on-board cards, this can sometimes cause applications and games to crash.
The problem you seem to have is related to running games which requires mid-range to high-end cards, i.e Radeon 9200 or higher cards so I think that one of the problems is the physical card and the other seems to be your version of Direct X.
I would suggest that you head over to Microsoft and download a new version of Direct X, the latest one is 9.0c and they are backwards compatible so this might work better with your existing videocard.
/B

Are all the games your listing giving you problems in XP and 2000?
Does Max Payne abruptly end in both OSes?

I would say you definitely need a better video card.  
What video settings are you using in Max Payne?

Ya i was thinking in the same line and guess i will go for Asus A78.. model which i think is cool, since one of my friend is using it and he is living well enjoying all my games. I have even tried to upgrade my ram to 512 (got it from friend) but no gain only pain!. I will give split points for everyone who had taken part in the discussion i.e 75 points to leeringmonkey and the remaining split among others. Mind you I have even tried to update my video drivers and sound card but not much help..  

Good choice, come back if you need help on new board.

>> Mind you I have even tried to update my video drivers and sound card but not much help..  

Updating drivers on crappy hardware will still leave you with --- crappy hardware

good choice

stockhes I like the crappy hardware lol