Faulty hardware?..hmm...all other games work like a charm;
wow, c&c3, supreme commander, fear all work great at max detail.
the ram isn't cheap

it's 4x Kingston HyperX ddr 2 1GB (ok..i'm a bit of a tweaker)
heat isn't a problem either, my case is open for a few days since i'm measuring in a liquid cooling system

(ordering parts, stuff like that)