I too would suspect that it is not caused by the processor, but I am using a Pentium D 945 3.2GHZ and think it is time to upgrade for other reasons. It is just a hope that this will solve the problem.

In my case It could be a memory related problem as the machine originally had 2G of memory, but one stick of memory failed last winter and I upgraded to 4G (all new Crucial Memory) Since then the machine has never been quite as reliable. I realize that Vegas can only use about 2G of memory with XP 32 bit, and perhaps having 4G installed is causing the problem, but I was under the impression that it will simply not utilize the extra memory. Trying new memory would of course make sense, but then it could be an issue somewhere else causing a problem, so considering all of the relevant points, I am trying a new machine and putting the current one in use for less demanding applications.

I've had no black frame problems with Vegas 8c which I'm sticking to (It's working sweet), I'm very surprised to hear this is an issue again with Vegas 9!