I recently brought a PNY FX5500 128mb graphics card. I got this so i could play the latest games. Having limited money as i am a student it was a good price.

Indeed the card does play the latest games! However usually after a few minutes of play the game freezes. Occasionally i get a message in windows XP says that this device may not be wroking properly. (this happens rarely after a crash). This only seems to happen on new games such as star wars battlefront. This happens on serveral games i have.

I have tried many things to sort this out. I have reinstalled the drivers from Nvidia. Reinstalled direct x9. I have taken all the PCI cards out of my system and run a barebones system. I have done a visual check to see the cards fan is working. Nothing seems to help.

My system is a AMD XP2400 on a Asus A7S33 motherboard. 1 gig of ram PC2700 and wireless USB network adapter. My motherboard is only AGP 4x although i have been told this does not matter.

Please help ! I don't want to buy a new card as i am skint and i am not sure if it is my motherboard.

Make sure that the video card is fully inserted, and its heatsink is securely mounted.

If those are ok, then remove the computer's cover, and run an external fan.
If that fixes things, then your system needs either additional or more powerful cooling fans.

If overheating is not the cause, then the power supply may be insufficient to run the card.

Did you look for a patch for the game?

Download the latest drivers from the manufacture's website.

Heres where you can download the driver from.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_66.93

Would try the patch for the game but this happens on nearly all my new games. I always keep them patched too.

The manufactuers drivers are the nvidia drivers. I have the latest of these.

Cooling idea sounds intresting - i will give this ago.

Any other ideas would be appreciated !

OK, if heat is suspected, remove the side cover and run the computer with a small fan blowing inside. If it's a heat problem, that should stop it and you'll know what to concentrate on.

Check the settings within the games, sometimes if you run all the highest detail levels, max out the sound quality etc it will cause lockups. The first thing I would do is pull the sound quality back a notch. You'd be surprised how much the sound can tax the system when it's also dealing with intense graphics.

Also run DXDIAG and see if it finds any problems. Test everything, and make sure you have a version of DirectX that will handle any and all games you are trying to play.

Sometimes the latest video drivers are NOT best. Depending on your video card some of the guys here more familiar with specific newer graphics cards may be able to advise whether you should use new drivers or earlier versions. So give them some specifics...

OK, if heat is suspected, remove the side cover and run the computer with a small fan blowing inside. If it's a heat problem, that should stop it and you'll know what to concentrate on.
I don't disaggree with Pete, but often if you remove the side cover it will actualy disrupt the air flow in the machine by not allowing a stream of air to flow through. Just a thought to point out.

A few small case fans are no match for the raw power of a "small" house fan! I use an old 3' box-frame fan for heat testing. Just point it at an open case and watch the temps drop! :D