Hello,
I have had a Dell Dimension 4600 for a couple years now, and have never had a serious problem with it. I have many video games I have always played on it and they have always worked fine. A couple months ago, these games started freezing up. I am able to play one for a couple minutes, then it will freeze. Part of the sound will continue, then start to loop right before the game unfreezes again. This will continue and the freezing will become progressively more frequent. I was also occasionally receiving a blue screen error which stated there was a problem with the file "nv4_disp", which I believe is the video card driver. However, I formatted my computer and have not gotten this message since.

I tried reinstalling the video card drivers, and tried different compatible drivers, but none helped. I then called Dell who helped me format my computer and reinstall everything (drivers, updates etc.) and this also did not fix the problem. They then formatted AGAIN a different way. They also had me try lowering the hardware acceleration. Didn't help. I opened the computer up and used a can of compressed air and cleaned out all the dust, something I had not done in a long time. Having heard the freezing could be because of faulty memory, I removed 2 of my 4 cards, tested a game, put those 2 back and took the other 2 out and tested again. Still freezing. Thinking the fans in my computer might be old and not working as well as they used to, I took the side cover off the computer and set up a box fan next to it on the outside. I also heard the sound card drivers could be the problem, so I reinstalled the ones that came with the computer. Nothing.

Some of the games that freeze are Battlefront, Knights of the Old Republic, Sid Meier's Pirates, Final Fantasy XI and Rise of Nations. All the games which freeze seem to be "3D", as games such as Zeus and Hoyle Word Games do not freeze. However, although I believe Grim Fandango is a "3D" game, it does not freeze. I also do not think there is a problem with the CD-ROM drive as I have 3D games on my hard drive which do not require a disc that also freeze.

Here are my specifications:
Video Card: Nvidia Geforce FX 5200
Memory: 1534 MB RAM
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.80 GHz
DirectX Version: 9.0c
OS: Windows XP Home Edition

Thanks in advance for your help!

Is this your current driver:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_169.21_whql.html

When you install drivers do you remove the old ones first?

Have you considered getting a new graphics card?

Hi,
No, my current driver is 84.21. I have however tried that version.

Yes, I remove the old drivers first. I plan on getting a new graphics card soon, but am not sure if I should get the same one (GeForce FX 5200) or a different one.

You can get 8600's at very reasonable prices. 512RAM models under $150 US.

Even 8800's are coming down under $300 US.

I would get at least an 8600.