Too many IRQ 5's ?

[Addequate]

For some reason my Video card, soundcard and ethernet card are all on IRQ 5 is this normal? i don't recall them all being on the same one. some advice on how to deal with this would be appreciated, thanks :) pic

[imported_Zach]

Re: Too many IRQ 5's ?

Normal? Yes and no.

The IRQ lines are physically tied to your PCI slots, and they are usually shared. Your motherboard manual should tell you what IRQ lines are associated with each physical slot.

IRQ's are designed to be shared, and these days (unlike ten years ago), having one or a hundred physical devices using the same IRQ line is no big deal and does not affect performance in any way.

If you like things neat and clean, though, you can do two things.

[Safest/Easiest Solution]
With the aid of your motherboard manual, move your soundcard and NIC to different PCI slots.

[More Risky Solution]
In BIOS, manually reassign the IRQ lines each PCI slot uses.


Bottom line, though, if you are not experiencing any problems, like in-game stuttering (game freezes and sound loops for 2-5 seconds intermittently), then I wouldn't worry about it.

[IntensivCareBear]

Re: Too many IRQ 5's ?

hmm, how do i check if my devices are on the same slots?

and your graphics card that i assume is AGP, how would that be on a PCI thing?

[imported_Zach]

Re: Too many IRQ 5's ?

hmm, how do i check if my devices are on the same slots?

I don't think you understand. I am talking about the physical PCI slots the cards are seated in. You didn't specify, but do you actually have a separate soundcard and/or network card, or are you using your motherboard's onboard sound and/or NIC?

If it's a separate device (i.e., like a Audigy card), then just open up the case and move it to another slot. (Slot 2, the second slot furthest from the AGP slot, is usually the best slot to avoid sharing of resources; but again, check your manual.)

If you are using your motherboard's NIC, then obviously you are out of luck there in terms of "physically moving" it.

and your graphics card that i assume is AGP, how would that be on a PCI thing?

An IRQ line has nothing to do with the BUS type (PCI, PCIe, AGP, IDE, etc.). It's just an Interrupt Request Line (IRQ). It is how a device tells the CPU that it is ready to start or complete some transaction. It is more efficient than polling.

[imported_Wasp]

Re: Too many IRQ 5's ?

It's a common problem with older motherboards that all PCI/AGP devices gets stuck on the same IRQ. This can cause problems like freezes, stuttering etc. The only way to fix it is to change the role of your computer in Windows or if your BIOS has the option turn off ACPI in Power Management.

Changing the role of the computer means that all the hardware will be detected again and some drivers might need to be reinstalled. I would therefore only recommend this with a fresh install of Windows. The way to do it is to go into device manager -> computer (which should now be ACPI Uniprocessor PC or something like that) and change it's driver by selecting "I want to choose the driver to install" and selecting Standard PC.

This will change the power management also so you have to enable Advanced Power Management in the Control Panel - > Power Options window. PS! You might not get this option depending on your BIOS and then you have to turn off your PC with the power button after shutting windows down.