Getting to the Bios and IRQ setting

Windows and Dell computers work on the assumption that all devices and their drivers conform to the PCI specifcation which requires that all devices be able to share IRQs.  Thus, there is no way to change the IRQ either in the BIOS or in Windows.  If your graphics card cannot share an IRQ, then it is the fault of the graphics card and indicates that it is not up to specifications to work in a modern computer.

Steve

I got a BFG GeForce 6600 PCI-E and I'm asking than because when I ask BFG tech they send me than :

I--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IRQs:
     You will want to check the IRQ assignment for the video card.
 
In General (taken largely from AMD’s white papers):
The easiest way to explain an IRQ is to think of it as a unique identifier.
The IRQ process is similar to an auction. The CPU is the auctioneer and the
peripherals are the bidders. Each bidder has a flag or paddle to get the
auctioneer's attention. If more than one bidder has the same flag, there is
chaos. Almost all primary components, such as graphics, sound, modem, etc.,
require at least one IRQ, regardless of whether they are cards or built onto
the system boards. Many older devices require their own unique IRQ (their
unique flag) with respect to all of the other devices.  
 
Note that some components (like video cards) cannot share IRQs.  This can
cause undesirable visual effects. There are 16 IRQs (15 usable) in a computer
system. Here is a typical assignment of these IRQs:
 
 IRQ 0 System- System Timer
 IRQ 1 System- Keyboard
 IRQ 2 System- Cascade able PIC
 IRQ 3 System- Serial Port (COM 2 and COM4)
 IRQ 4 System - Serial Port (COM 1 and COM3)
 IRQ 5 Available- General Adapter Use
 IRQ 6 System- Diskette Controller
 IRQ 7 System- Printer 1
 IRQ 8 System- CMOS Real-time clock
 IRQ 9 Available- General Adapter Use
 IRQ 10 Available- General Adapter Use
 IRQ 11 Available- General Adapter Use
 IRQ 12 System- Mouse Port
 IRQ 13 System- Math Co-processor
 IRQ 14 System- Hard Disk Controller
 IRQ 15 Available- General Adapter Use
 
As you can see, there are five (5) IRQs that are not assigned by the system
design (5, 9, 10, 11, and 15). 
 
Note: there are actually more possible assignments for IRQs up to 255.
However, any IRQ past 15 is simply a duplicate of one of the 15 listed above.
 Furthermore, IRQs above 15 are assigned a lower priority than the first 15
IRQs listed.  Therefore, when a video card is assigned an IRQ above 15 there
are several issues to consider.  First, it is important to understand why the
OS assigned the video card an IRQ that was not in the 5 available primary
IRQs.  The most common reasons for this are usually found in the following 3
places: bios update, chipset update and power supply wattage or defect(how could I check than?).  It is also possible for a defective card or slot to cause this issue, however, in
most cases severe issues such as display corruption will indicate this type of
problem.  Also, it is important to understand that while a card will often
function with this type of IRQ assignment, doing so will likely cause some
performance issues.  In many cases reassigning an IRQ to one of the primary
available IRQs to the video card will result in a performance increase as well
as address or fix more serious issues.
 
How to Test: In Windows 98/ME:
Right click on the “My Computer” icon and select properties.
Select the “Device Manager” tab.
Expand the “Display Adapters” by clicking on the + sign.
Right click on the NVIDIA card and select properties.
Select the “Resources” tab and see what the IRQ is (labeled
Interrupt Request).
 
How to Test: In Windows 2000/XP:
Click “Start” >> “Run”.
Type in “devmgmt.msc” and hit enter.
Expand the “Display Adapters” (by clicking on the + sign).
Right click on the NVIDIA card and select properties.
Select the “Resources” tab and see what the IRQ is (labeled
Interrupt Request)
and that there are no conflicts (listed on the bottom of the page). "This
setting can not be changed within the operating system.   If the IRQ
assignment is greater than 15 you will want to reassign it to a different IRQ
(preferably 11)."
 
How to deal with it:
In some cases it is not always necessary to change the IRQ, as sometimes
performance is nominally affected by an unfavorable assignment.  However, even
in these cases it is important to address the reasons WHY the assignment
occurred, as that is likely a source of current issues or potentially a cause
of future issues (as in the case of overdraw on a power supply).  If the IRQ
does need to be reassigned there are several potential fixes, however it is
important that any issues that originally caused the unfavorable assignment be
addressed.  
 

 
Fix It: In Windows 2000/XP:
While assigning the IRQ in the bios is sometimes successful in Windows
2000/XP, it is rarely the case that when it is available that it actually
works.  Windows 2000/XP’s HAL has a tendency to ignore such bios settings
and
has been designed to remember its original assignment regardless of how many
times the card is uninstalled and reinstalled.  There are several Microsoft
Knowledge Base Articles on the subject that detail how to get the OS installed
in a manner to reassign the IRQs, based on what is currently installed that
should leave the systems programs intact.
As a final option, you can also reformat and reinstall Windows using the
prescribed manner to install a “Standard PC HAL”, install the
chipset drivers
before installing the video card drivers and then install the latest drivers
with favorable results.  In both cases however, important data should be
backed up as IRQ reassignments can sometimes cause system crashes and
obviously reinstalling the OS with formatting the drive will erase all data.
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They are essentially admitting that their video card does not conform to the standard specifications.  If this is the case then your only options are, as stated in their barely understandable fix"

Fix It: In Windows 2000/XP:
While assigning the IRQ in the bios is sometimes successful in Windows
2000/XP, it is rarely the case that when it is available that it actually
works.  Windows 2000/XP’s HAL has a tendency to ignore such bios settings
and
has been designed to remember its original assignment regardless of how many
times the card is uninstalled and reinstalled.  There are several Microsoft
Knowledge Base Articles on the subject that detail how to get the OS installed
in a manner to reassign the IRQs, based on what is currently installed that
should leave the systems programs intact.
As a final option, you can also reformat and reinstall Windows using the
prescribed manner to install a “Standard PC HAL”, install the
chipset drivers
before installing the video card drivers and then install the latest drivers
with favorable results.  In both cases however, important data should be
backed up as IRQ reassignments can sometimes cause system crashes and
obviously reinstalling the OS with formatting the drive will erase all data."

Did you recently reinstall Windows XP?  If so, did you install the chipset drivers first?

Steve

I really can't answer that question.  The BFG tech seems to be saying that you should reformat and reinstall Windows.  If I were you I would post this on the Dimension - Video forum where you might find someone with more expertise in misbehaving video card problems. 

Steve

thanks for you help