Pues yo diria q es cosa de tarjeta. Con la ATI no Radeon de 32 MB tmb me daba ese mensaje, ahora con la 9000 pro 128 corre q se las pela.
Esto es del readme:
Splinter Cell supports the following graphic cards
-	Nvidia GeForce2 Ti/Ultra/Pro/GTS/MX400/MX
-	Nvidia GeForce3 family
-	Nvidia GeForce4 family
-	ATI Radeon 8500/9000/9500/9700
-	Matrox Parhelia
Please note that on supported 32MB video cards, you are forced to play with minimal specs (minimal resolution 640x480; minimal shadow resolution and minimal shadow details).