If you have never played, it could be your graphics card isn't good enough. How old is your computer?
Mmm, I don't see how this is why it'd crash. My graphic card sucked on my computer, but before we bought a new one, it lagged a lot, I mean, I guess it could crash... But you'd know if your graphic card was that bad.
Edit: Also, you can buy seprate graphic cards. But yeah, I'm pretty sure a lot of other people know what you meant, too.