Well, I took my Radeon back to the shop and they tested it for ages, so it aint a hardware problem. I ran programs on my comp like detonator destroyer like the tech guy advised me and still the problem is there.

I did a windows repair install and reinstalled SP2 aswell to clear out anything else and that didn't work. Tried my 2 memory sticks on their own, lots of slow down but the problem still arose.

Gonna try today one last time I think.

The only other thing I can think of is my power supply. I would have thought 400w was ok though. I might upgrade to a 500w in a week or two and see if that makes any difference.
I got a feeling I won't be able to get a refund on my graphics card due to 'incompatibility' problems. So changing it aint gonna happen

Format. Fresh install. Your system has driver corruption problems which a repair won't fix.

hi,
u have already downloaded the latest catalyst 5.2(i guess). did the shop people try the card on their system? did it work ok? u working on one or two op systems? if two, format 98 and xp both(obviously both). before doing that check that the card is not conflicting with irq of some other hardware's sofftware. sometimes sharing can cause problems. install catalyst 5.2, restart, check application, if crashes or troubles then uninstall (any conflicting source) say the modem driver, check system, if no good then restart and check again. if it works fine otherwise whatever fixes ur problem please let me know coz i was thinking of buying a 9600xt myself.
could it be the manufacturer (saphire) which is causing the trouble. i think if i go fo ati's ati 9600xt, it wont be a problem...dont u think?
regards

It might surprise people to know that Sapphire manufacture the greatest bulk of ATi radeon cards sold. Many other manufacturers have Sapphire manufacture the cards for them, and then badge the things with their own brand name