Video card issues?

I'm only assuming that this is a video card issue I'm not 100% certain, I have been playing Heroes of Newearth on my PC for a very long time and have recently experienced a problem. I was playing last night and during it my computer froze, but as it did the pixils became slightly distored and if someone was talking on their mic it would repeat what they said over and over. This has happened to me once or twice over the past month but was easily fixed with a reboot. I rebooted joined and continued to play which resulted in the same thing happening, this continued to happen around 5 times and sometimes when loading to the start menu my computer's graphics on the monitor would look distorted and messed up. Any ideas?
 
Have you check to see if the computer is cleaned out well. make sure than all fans work and try to remove all dust from the computer.
 
I cleaned it the other day and turned it off for the night but it still does the messed up pixils when loading, I also have to press F8 during before windows and have to select my hard drive in order for me to get to the windows start menu. This kind of problem has happened before but that was fixed when I installed this new hard drive into my computer. I'm not sure if it simply overheated because the computer was at like 61 degrees, but the weekend before I left my computer running for about 4 days. I have a Geforce 7600 GT so it might just be old cause i've had it for over 5-6 years.
 
A fairly easy and (relatively) painless way to find out if the card is indeed artifacting (dying) is to download ATI Tool -if you use Windows XP-it can be used with nvidia cards.
As per the screenshot, you can see a "scan of artifacts" button. Selecting this starts a graphics stress test (45 min is default I think). The program will notify you probably fairly quickly - a matter of seconds in most obvious cases. Artifacts should be apparent (lines/different or missing pixel blocks in the "fuzzy cube" or stuttering/freezing)
You can also run NVWorld's Video Memory Stress Test -this will check the video memory as opposed to the graphics processor on the card if you want to narrow down a possible fault- although the cards age and replacement cost probably negate any thoughts of repair other than a DIY solder reflow (baking the card in your stove to reflow solder that has cracked or seperated...yes it does work.)

EDIT:
Before running any of the stress tests it might be prudent to download EVGA's Precision software and ensure that your graphics card fan isn't being throttled during intensive use. Some driver revisions limit fan speed (and hence cooling ability)
 
The problem is now my computer doesnt start at all, when I start it the screen is visible but the letters are so warped you cannot read it and if I try to get to the windows start menu it simply causes the monitor screen to go completely black, switches it to save power mode and my monitor goes black. Could it be a problem with the monitor that has been causing all of this? My monitor does have some problems since there is something broken with the back of it( My dad rigged it with tape and it hasnt had problems). Also there is a green line in the middle of the screen where I think some pixils burnt out.
 
I know this sounds pretty standard, but you might want to first check if the DVI cable is plugged into both ends securely. Mine was loose at one point, and because it wasn't connected properly it would cause artifacts every time the desk it was on shook...

You said you cleaned the card, did you take the heatsink off of the gpu? Check the capacitors, and make sure they're not bubbling, and check solder points on the video card. Cheap manufacturers use cheap capacitors and usually skimp on the solder, or use crappy solder material, or both.
 
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