Can you try the latest directx update (8-2008), may help.
512mb of ram is on the low side, what graphics does your setup use.
Yes, I can do an directx update, but I don't think that's a rendering problem.
My suspicion is a slow database. In the past there was some MP builds, where the MySQL Database slow down the EPG.
All other menus are ok.
I use a GeForce FX5200 with 128MByte