[amerrill]

I have this same problem. In order for me to play crash free I have to do this: Startup tf2 and go to options, then video, then advanced and enable multicore rendering and hit apply. Then after the screen flashes then go back into the advanced video options again and disable the multicore rendering.

Now you can play just fine with no lockups as long as you want until you exit tf2. It's a pain but it's the only thing that works. I notice in console when I do the enabling/disabling of the multicore rendering it says "Unable to remove c:\program files\steam\steamapps\*username*\team fortress 2\tf\textwindow_temp.html!". I know the textwindow_temp.html was an old method of storing motd info but I don't know the whole cause behind the issue. This only happens when connecting to servers with html motd's. I have searched all over the net for answers but no one has any. I'm just glad I figured it out after 6 months of yelling a my computer for locking on map change. I have submitted multiple bug reports to valve about it and posted on there forums till I'm blue in the face. I have done re-installs of my comp and before doing anything tried to play and same issue. Maybe some kind of hardware conflict or something.

Hope this helps.