BIND 9.2.3rc2 brings entire machine down

[mrbog]

I have a Mandrake 9.2 box which I've used every day for months with no
problems. Recently I installed BIND 9.2.3rc2.  I set up zones for
local (LAN) names.  I set my windows PC to use the Mandrake box for
DNS.  Everything works fine at first.

And then, evenually, it crashes linux.  When I say it crashes linux, I
mean all processes become non-responsive.  No mouse movement.  It's
not just KDE, either, I can't ssh into the machine either.

It takes about an hour or so to happen.  Everything works fine at
first. I can do requests from the win machine, or from the mandrake
box.

Here is more info: I am behind a Linksys router.  I know that after
about an hour, connections that were open, drop.  Like if I'm sshed
into another machine somewhere on the internet, and walk away from my
machine and come back, the conx has dropped and I have to login again.
 I don't mind that, its not a big deal.

I've found no one else with this problem. What do I need to do to make
BIND not bring my entire linux machine down?