Why is my HTPC running sluggish, required upgrade ?

Snow-Munki · 3 Feb 2006 at 16:41

Hi,

My HTPC spec is as follows:

Athlon xp 1800
512 ddr 2100 ram
120 gig 2 meg cache hdd
nforce 2 motherboard onboard sound using coaxial to amp
Nova-t TV card
radeon 9000 (i think)

ok so spec isn't great, but hardly say it is that bad.

just even browsing files and minimising windows feels really slow, and loading Media Centre can take a while.

not sure if i'm just using to my main rig as it's quite a bit better ( Opteron : 3ghz / 2 gb ram / raptor etc )

Otherwise i might have to upgrade, what do you think is hold it back the most, budget is fairly tight ( saving up for a LCD TV ! )

MrWhippy · 3 Feb 2006 at 16:45

even browsing files being slow - suggests maybe the HDD is not running with DMA enabled, certainly worth checking before any cost options.

Snow-Munki · 3 Feb 2006 at 16:51

thanks, will check that. It is an old hdd i got from somewhere

oh like say i'd minimise IE window, i can see it slowly minimise, would take like a good 3/4 seconds, flickering as it goes down. Leasd me to think not enough memory ?

Nutbusta · 3 Feb 2006 at 17:12

Snow-Munki said:
thanks, will check that. It is an old hdd i got from somewhere

oh like say i'd minimise IE window, i can see it slowly minimise, would take like a good 3/4 seconds, flickering as it goes down. Leasd me to think not enough memory ?

Sounds more like its just a b0rked winstall. You would remember if it was like this before wouldn't you?

BAckup and reinstall sounds like the plan matey. But yeah, I'd check the HD DMA and run virus/spyware scans obviously

Combat squirrel · 3 Feb 2006 at 17:24

hi iv been messing with lots of mce setups recently and iv found for some reason that those with ATI cards installed are very sluggish when using them, and going through menu's etc HOWEVER the video playback is very good quality.

Nvidia based MCE pc seems very responsive and very quick, my pci 4000mx is easly faster than the ati htpc's I have at going through the menu's etc (with the rest of the pc being slower as well) but the playback quality on videos etc is not as good, hope this helps

Energize · 3 Feb 2006 at 19:06

Have you installed the latest mce catalyst graphics drivers for your card?

daz · 3 Feb 2006 at 19:21

Tried a defrag?

Baddass · 3 Feb 2006 at 20:35

Snow-Munki said:
Otherwise i might have to upgrade, what do you think is hold it back the most, budget is fairly tight ( saving up for a LCD TV ! )

any excuse to upgrade eh?!

sound like a possible Windows issue. Done the usual spyware / AV sweep? see if it's any better in safe mode? might give you an idea if it's hardware related perhaps....

Combat squirrel · 3 Feb 2006 at 21:18

NNNNNNNNNNOoooooooooooooo told you its the ATI drivers mine is about 2x the spec of yours and its the ATI 9200 card in mine holding it back, put the nvidia card in its way faster, but less vid quality