Game freeze and hard crash

[soapflavored]

New bug I've encountered. Originally I had the dreaded black terrain bug that would cause the game to crash within 15 minutes of play, with an additional "visual C++ runtime error" afterwards. I updated my graphics card drivers and the game ran smoothly for a while [which when it works, is amazing, I love the game so far] (I have the graphics on "very low" to avoid lagging FPS and skipping), but the past couple days, I can get into the game and play, but every so often it lags, then freezes, and then the game either quits or causes my whole computer to crash on its own (Alt-F4 won't work, CTRL-Alt-Delete won't work), or forces me to restart using the power button.

Following this is the DXdiag log from BEFORE I updated my drivers. Perhaps it might help. I plan on turning off Anti-aliasing, and other graphics options to see if that might help. If there's anything else I can do, or if this might be fixed in a patch please let me know. Thanks!

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.101014-0432)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
System Model: G50VT
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.26GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.3GHz
Memory: 4094MB RAM
Page File: 1996MB used, 6377MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 64bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 9800M GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_062B&SUBSYS_19921043&REV_A1
Display Memory: 2289 MB
Dedicated Memory: 497 MB
Shared Memory: 1791 MB
Current Mode: 1366 x 768 (16 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: nvd3dum,nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2um, nvwgf2umx.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.7623 (English)
DDI Version: 10
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 7/25/2008 03:30:59, 5885952 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-456B-11CF-346E-993901C2CA35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x062B
SubSys ID: 0x19921043
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C ModeVC1_C ModeWMV9_C ModeVC1_B ModeWMV9_B ModeVC1_A ModeWMV9_A

[FocusTechSupport]

Please update the drivers of the NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT graphics controller of your Asus G50VT laptop computer:

1. Click http://support.asus.com/Download/Option ... =en&type=1
2. From "Model Automatic Detection", click "Start" button.
3. Click "GO" button and follow the instructions.