I also think they are supposedly two unrelated factors, but I haven't gotten any severe video crashes since then after months of trying to fix the problem and having no luck. I forgot to mention I had formatted the HD and reinstalled Windows 7 which only bought a day or two of respite.
The only two things left to do was try reflow the video card with the oven trick or take off the heat sink to see what was up with the VRAM modules and capacitors. Other than that a new card was in order. Some days were so bad I couldnt get into Windows.
Whats with Radeon cards and black screens and vertical stripes? Ever since I had my 256mb X1600 pro I always run into these BS problems.