IRQ Conflicts

[gerrynicol]

Hi,

I just upgraded my mobo and gfx(see sig) and have been having performance issues, I was finally going to throw in the towel when I remembered to check the IRQ's, I have my card and zs on IRQ19, the problem is that this is the only available slot(there is only 2 slots, one is right underneath my bottom card so thats a no go.

To my question, how good is onboard sound nowadays? the sound board in question is a Karajan audio module:
Realtek ALC850 8-channel audio codec.

Will this be nearly as good as the zs?

Cheers,

Gerry.

[ChAce]

Try for yourself and try to hear the difference... I don't notice it but I have to say I care very little about sound quality.

[bobyjo]

There is a provision to manually assign the IRQ's.
If this not acceptable to you, in bios you have the option to select (SPD) which allows windows to automatically assign the IRQ's for maximum stability and performance.
Sometimes when you make a change in hardware, if the IRQ's are already assigned.
IE::A volume of Windows is already installed when you make the hardware change.
This could cause a problem.
So either assign the IRQ's manually, or if you are not confortable with that, set the IRQ's to (SPD) auto. Then reboot, windows should make the necessary changes.
If you need a new sound card, just install this normally, that should not be a problem.

[gerrynicol]

After the upgrade I done a fresh install, there is only one easy accessable slot for the ZS and that slot shares irq19 with the gfx card. I will have a look in the bios for the irq setup tomorrow( am at work now).

Cheers,

gerry.

[Anarion]

1. it's not just about snd quality , audigy have alot to say on games sometimes 30% more performance

2.this is not ISA days - u easily can change interrupts -

3.almost all bios's, do it by themselves.

in avance logic -snd chips- better say tniY DSPs - they are just some MOD/DEMOD

every thing is on cpu shoulders. but audigy is far from onboard chips.

[gerrynicol]

@ Anarion

1. I know this this is why i was asking the question.

2. Aware you can change just haven't done this before as I have always had more than 1 PCi slot to use.

3. As long as they don't make a mess :) . Seriously though, this is how it was set up, all options are on auto(or whatever it is)

Not sure what your last comment means, could you clear that up for me,

Cheers,

Gerry.

[Anarion]

i mean ; onboard snd-chips are almost Soft-SOUND CARDs .actually there's nothing that can name hardware just like hcf modems....

[bobyjo]

After the upgrade I done a fresh install, there is only one easy accessable slot for the ZS and that slot shares irq19 with the gfx card. I will have a look in the bios for the irq setup tomorrow( am at work now).

Cheers,

gerry.

I have no idea of how many PCI appliances you have installed in your system.
As a rule of thumb, Never install anything in the PCI slot next to the graphics card slot.
If you have a sound card, this should go in PCI slot "3", if you have a modem it should go into PCI slot "5".
This way you will eleminate the IRQ conflict problem.

[gerrynicol]

@ Anarion - Ah now I understand, yeah i know on board sound cards dont do hardware, only software acceleration(can't remember the proper term :( )

@ bobyjo - I only have X1 pci slot available for use, when I say the one next to the gfx card is right next to it, man it's sooo close. and once I install my arctic silencers you won't be able to see it lol .

Gerry.

[bobyjo]

@ Anarion - Ah now I understand, yeah i know on board sound cards dont do hardware, only software acceleration(can't remember the proper term :( )

@ bobyjo - I only have X1 pci slot available for use, when I say the one next to the gfx card is right next to it, man it's sooo close. and once I install my arctic silencers you won't be able to see it lol .

Gerry.

I am telling you, you cannot install any sound card in the slot that is shared with the video card.
It ain't gonna work.
What do you have in PCI slots 5,4,3,2,?
I need to know because I never heard of this many PCI appliances in one system.

You are gonna have to use the onboard sound. No other way for you if you have all the PCI slots filled.

[gerrynicol]

I only have 2 standard pci slot on the mobo, one directly underneath the 2nd pcie slot and one below that. I can only use the very bottom standard pci slot as it would hamper the airflow/ cooling for the 2nd pcie gfx card.

[bobyjo]

It is much easier to modify fans and fan mountings, than worry about cooling over the use of a PCI slot.
I would place your sound card in next to the last PCI slot.
You did not mention a modem so that is not a problem.
Do you have a fan in the side panel of the case?
My case has two 120mm fans, one intake and one exhaust.
Then there is a 90mm fan in the side panel.
This 90mm fan is about an inch below the center of the CNPS7000Cu hs/fan.
That hs/fan overlaps the memory so there is a lot of air flow around the memory sticks.
About 3" below the center of the hs/fan is the video card.
The 90mm fan does cover the back side of the video card. The front side has a fan. The temps of the GPU core runs from 41c to 43c.
The cpu core runs at 25c to 38c under full load.
Fans and mounting of fans can be done anywhere.
If you are concerned over a PCIe video card, place a fan blowing fresh air outside the case onto the video card.
These fans vary in price, the 90mm 74cfm fan was like $10, it is a Thermaltake Smart Fan.
The 120mm fans are Thermaltake Smart Fans, they vary from 25cfm up to about 100cfm.
All these fans are adjustable in fan speed and noise level.
The 90mm is the loudest of the fans.
What I am getting to is you can mount 80mm-90mm fans in the side panel of your case, one above the video card, another above the cpu hs/fan, even another above the memory.
Then you should increase the air flow capacity of the exhause fan to compensate for the additional air coming into the case.

[Anarion]

@ gerry , it seems u know everything , i wonder y u ask here question @ first place.. LOL

;)

-------------

[gerrynicol]

See attached pics,

@ Bobyjo, I simply couldn't place teh soundcard necs to the gfx, it would obstruct the air "Intake" to the card and no amount of air flowing over the card would help.

@ Anarion, I have been building, working on PC's since I was 11 years old, I don't know everything but I do know a fair bit, my current job is a debug tech, I work mainly on high end servers which use 4 dual core processors and up to 32 Gb ram, and are currently pilot'ing 2Gb sticks.

Like I said in an earlier post I have used a soundcard for most of my PC life, so I have never really needed to change the bios settings or anything like that, and I have also had more than one free PCi slot as well :)

I do appreciate the help though, so if you have any other ideas then please let me know.

Cheers,

Gerry.

EDIT: Oh almost forgot, @ bobyjo, I have X2 120mm fans at teh front, 1X 120mm and 1X90mm at the rear and 1X90mm at teh top

[bobyjo]

See attached pics,

@ Bobyjo, I simply couldn't place teh soundcard necs to the gfx, it would obstruct the air "Intake" to the card and no amount of air flowing over the card would help.

@ Anarion, I have been building, working on PC's since I was 11 years old, I don't know everything but I do know a fair bit, my current job is a debug tech, I work mainly on high end servers which use 4 dual core processors and up to 32 Gb ram, and are currently pilot'ing 2Gb sticks.

Like I said in an earlier post I have used a soundcard for most of my PC life, so I have never really needed to change the bios settings or anything like that, and I have also had more than one free PCi slot as well :)

I do appreciate the help though, so if you have any other ideas then please let me know.

Cheers,

Gerry.

EDIT: Oh almost forgot, @ bobyjo, I have X2 120mm fans at teh front, 1X 120mm and 1X90mm at the rear and 1X90mm at teh top

My suggestion was to place the sound card in PCI slot 3. The slot next to the VGA card would be PCI slot 2. If you don't have enough PCI slots, you will be forced to use an USB sound card or use the onboard sound.

[gerrynicol]

@ bobyjo, the empty slot and the slot with the soundcard in it(pic above) ARE the ONLY slots on the mobo that I can put the card into!!.

Cheers,

Gerry.

[bobyjo]

Get yourself an USB sound card. There are some out there that does really great. No PCI slot needed, either this or onboard sound looks like the only choices you have.