Many thanks for all your suggestions. The problem now seems to be fixed.

I have since updated my mobo BIOS got a load of new drivers for my video card (nvidia 61.77), bios, lan etc etc. My on-board lan was giving me jip as well btw, now i'm on wireless its fine.

I do have another problem however in that i'm getting noise coming through my terratec card. It's a hissy scratchy noise even when nothing is playing. It's quite low in volume but noticeable.

I might post it on a new thread but I recall reading something about this before somewhere so i'll post if I find it.

Stuart Silver, can you tell me if you had a similair noise problem with your terratec?

Thanks again.