After failing at the last IDEQ 200t media centre project due to the media centre crashing, live tv taking 5 minutes to change channel and EPG F***ing up every five minutes i decided it's take two. Aparantly the problems where caused by the weak specifications so will this new media centre cut the mustard??: Intel Pentium 920 2.8Ghz 2MB Cache W/VT Tech 1GB Crucial Dual Channel DDR2667 PC5300 RAM WD Caviar WD2500KS 250GB 16MB SATA/2 HDD ASUS P5V-VM DH Motherboard 450W Power Supply ATX2 W/SATA And PCI-E ANTEC NSK6000 ATX Midi Tower Case Hauppauge WinTV NOVA-T 500 Dual DVB-T PCI Tuner Lite-On DVD +/- RW/RAM Optical Drive Creative Inspire 5.1 Surround Sound System Windows Media Centre Edition 2005 Windows Media Centre Remote + IR Reciever 26'' Samsung 'HD' LCD TV, 19'' Acer Gaming Monitor Or Possible My 42'' Plasma Screen TV No suggestions of getting a core 2 duo or anything like that the Pentium D 920 was basically designed for this application i.e VT Technology anyways the only thing that's weak on it appears to be the Intergrated Viachrome graphics will these do I would upgrade but the store i order from only seem to sell PCI-E cards now or very expensive AGPs i.e 7900 etc. If the intergrated will not hack it will a Geforce 6200 128MB AGP do or should i just forget it?? My Systems: iDEQ 200T, P4 3.4Ghz,1GB DDR400 Dual Channel,160GB SATA,19'' W/S LCD Monitor, IBM Thinkpad R52 What a Machine IBM/Lenovo Rule, Acer Travelmate 2305LCI

Hey, I don't see anything wrong with that approach at all. Here is what I would change though. Get a Intel motherboard that supports Viiv technology (a log of benefits and media center additions to going with Viiv) and going with a core 2 duo. I don't see why you wouldn't want to go with it when it is soo much faster and supports Viiv just as well as PD does. http://www.intel.com/products/viiv/...

"Aparantly the problems where caused by the weak specifications so will this new media centre cut the mustard??" I wouldn't call the specs that you have listed for the iDEQ 200T system "weak". I definitely don't care for SFF systems, but IMO, completely rebuilding just because you're having problems is a complete waste of money. Why not spend a little more time troubleshooting? If necessary, format the HDD & start from scratch. Don't install any "unnecessary" hardware until you have Windows installed & fully updated. Install all the latest video & chipset drivers & make sure everything is functioning properly & up to speed, THEN install your TV card or whatever you have.

Right okay basically i need to make a living room friendly pc to replace my DVD recorder, Freeview box etc therefore crashes etc cannot be tollerated Is there anything i can do with the IDEQ 200T?? i've changed the processor bracket to fit a normal skt 478 h/s/f any h/s/f recommended that will cool a prescott 3.4ghz w/ht also i need a hard drive as the 40gb has just packed in and maybe a new graphics card also is the twinhan tv card any good it is MCE certified any suggestions i'm low on cash so you know lol. My Systems: iDEQ 200T, P4 3.4Ghz,1GB DDR400 Dual Channel,160GB SATA,19'' W/S LCD Monitor, IBM Thinkpad R52 What a Machine IBM/Lenovo Rule, Acer Travelmate 2305LCI

Right so as of now this is what i'm thinking do we think this will prevent the channel changing taking an hour etc the ideq 200t is perfect never crashes etc in normal windows so: Intel Pentium 4 3.4Ghz Prescott 1mb Cache W/HT 1GB Dual Channel Crucial PC3200 DDR400 CL2.5 RAM 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500KS 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA2/300 Which will of course be limited to SATA/150 Nvidia 128MB Geforce 6200 AGP Graphics Card Zalman (CNPS7000B-ALCU) SKT478 Cooler Hauppauge WinTV-Nova-T PCI Freeview Card LITEON DVD8900/DW1670 16x DVDRW/RAM Do you think these specifications will prevent the problem i had: 1)I think i've sorted the file system slowness problem with a sata hdd with 16mb and 250gb storage 2)The geforce 6200 has MPEG 2 decoding etc to aid the CPU with tv playback recording etc. 3)The Zalman should be a lot quieter even on full and cooler the processor more efficently if it will fit 4)The new TV card i've heard works well with Media Centre edition and is a well recongised make i'd never heard of Twinhan when i bought it but i've heard of Hauppauge so guys you think i'm onto a winner then?? My Systems: iDEQ 200T, P4 3.4Ghz,1GB DDR400 Dual Channel,160GB SATA,19'' W/S LCD Monitor, IBM Thinkpad R52 What a Machine IBM/Lenovo Rule, Acer Travelmate 2305LCI