MSI 9800GTX + issue

I updated my driver, about 2 days ago to the latest. Tonight I installed an IE7 hotfix for windows, restarted and about 10 seconds after the restart(at the desktop while background apps are loading) I got a gray screen and some sound artifacts. system restored before applying the hotfix, same results. Safe mode its fine, un installed my V-card drivers, restarted. and system is running fine with no drivers. I am noticing no graphical glitches or anything right now (typing from the very PC) Currently re installing my drivers in the hope something got corrupted there. So I am assuming 1 of 2 things, PSU or video card. Unfortunately dont have a PS to test with, So if its still fubar after this re install of the driver, I will probably pick up a new PSU (since its the cheapest option to start with) I could probably use a better one anyhow. Just curious if anyone has had a similar experience and knows which is the root cause. Will update after driver install.

EDIT:

After driver re - install everything "appears" to have returned to normal. Although my system is acting wierd upon restarts. After I installed the driver and chose to restart, when my computer was rebooting, it just hung there I had to power it off and power it back on to get it going. Will game for awhile and see how it goes.

Driver is in fact the issue, sorry for wasting space on the forum! Not having to spend money is a plus. Normally having to throw a few hundred here and there to replace upgrade isnt an issue, but its the holidays and I just dropped 700 bucks on car repairs. cleaned with driver cleaner pro, dropped back to 178.24 and everything runs and PC restarts just fine.

Is the MSI 9800GTX plus a good card , performance in games etc ?

I am looking to buy it and want a card that can run everything at high.

thanx