I don't know how long it has been used. Ciould have been a while.
Usually, all of my cards last very long, because O don't overtact them or so. I usually don't play graphics-intensive games like shooters, either.

My theory right now is that it because stuck in a process and then everything just overheated.

And this morning my second card froze during normal Win XP use, too !

I have filed a ticket to Turbine. I really want this to get sorted out.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293078/en-us