Hardware problem

[Einsteinjr]

Ok guys, here goes my problem...

I built a HTPC for my big screen TV and have been getting this recurring issue with playback. After a fresh restart of the machine, HD plays flawlessly. No problems whatsoever. However, over time, I see that HD begins to stutter (720p and 1080p). Finally, if I don't reboot it for over a week, the xvid videos begin to stutter. Until I reboot, the problem cannot be fixed.

I've already done quite a bit of troubleshooting. The first thought was that I didn't have enough power. Because of the special case I purchased (smaller than your normal cable box), I am using a 120W fanless PSU. I went and purchased a normal 400W one just to see if the problem persisted and sure enough it did. So it's not the PSU....

Next I thought that maybe there was a memory leak. Instead of trying to figure out what might be leaking, I wiped the machine clean and reinstalled everything from scratch....still stutters....

My next theory is that maybe the HDMI output is causing it. Now, before you criticize such a theory, hear me out....I am connecting my TV to my mediacenter only by HDMI (sound and video go through it to the TV). Any time I unplug/plug back in the HDMI cable or switch the input on the TV between MediaCenter and my normal DVR Comcast box, I always see the hard drive light flicker quite a bit and it takes a bit of time (< 5 secs) for the machine to recgonize that a TV is plugged into it. My hypothesis is that maybe switching on/off the tv and switching between the inputs of the TV is causing some sort of problem with my computer. I will be testing this theory once my order for a long VGA & 1/8th inch audio cable arrives. That way the media center will see it as a normal monitor vs. a TV.

Do you guys have any other ideas of what it could be?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nenu]

Its possible some power saving features are not functioning properly.
ie I have seen many times that some devices do not come out of power saving mode properly and cause strange behaviour.
Try disabling power saving completely to see if the problem stops.
You will be able to troubleshoot which device(s) are the cause if this succeeds.

 

[tzk]

Well what are your system components?

 

[Einsteinjr]

My components are as follows:

1.) GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI
2.) AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor
3.) CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
4.) Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
5.) Case: http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=lc19&area= (comes with a 120W fanless PSU)

I am using CoreAVC + Meedio + MPC to play my Hi-def videos. I am also running Windows XP Pro (x86)