Which video drivers are you using. I tried 40.72 which were ótherwise fine except they have a bug which doesn't let me use 1600x1200 resolution. The best bug free driver is version 30.82. Remember to uninstall the existing drivers and use detonator destroyer before going through the routine for installing new drivers. Your blue screen sounds like a driver problem.
I didn't buy gp4 until I had upgraded from thunderbird 1200 to my present set-up. Also your video card is a bit slow (even mine is) but the processor is most important for gp4. You will need to turn alot of stuff off to get smooth and responsive action.
Larry
AMD 3000+,Epox EP-8RDA,Ram 1536mb 333 DDr, Rad 9800 pro omega 2.4.96, dx9b, Audigy, MOMO FF,winxp