Did you just recently put the sound or video card in and then the problems began? We've been on patch 4 for some time now, so unless you just joined AH something had to have changed.
If you just put in the video card I would suspect overheating or an insuffient power supply. A gf2 card can draw an aweful lot of power. You may be able to rule out overheating by running the game with a side of the case off and possibly blowing a fan into the case.
As for powersupply, if you have smaller than a 250W you will be having problems. I would definately recommend a 300W if you have a GeForce type card.
I kind of doubt driver issues, I use the 6.31s myself when I boot into win98.
The last thing you should check is for IRQ conflicts. Start -> accesories -> system tools -> system information -> pick IRQs. Copy and paste the list here for us to look at.
Good Luck!
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bloom25
-MAW-
(Formerly of the)
THUNDERBIRDS