i'm having a bit of a problem with the game, but go easy on me, I just bought it. 
I did search the forums, but nothing came up, so i'm posting it here: when playing the game, and zoomed a little bit out from the closest view, I see what seem to be random spikey lines/columns appearing for about half of a second on the ship i'm currently viewing, and any in my viewing radius, jutting out of of the ship. this happens randomly and continuously, but if I zoom out more it stops happening. i'm guessing it's something with my graphics card. anyone know about this?
card: HIS radeon 4850 w/latest CCC/drivers 8.9
for posterity, rest of system specs
Ram: 3GB ddr2 800mhz
proc: e8500 Duo 3.16 GHZ
OS: vista home premium 32-bit