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Thread ID: 39904 2003-11-21 07:56:00 Which PCI Slots to avoid? Chao is back (634) Press F1
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193653 2003-11-21 07:56:00 I'm building a PC and I was wondering which PCI slots to avoid on Gigabyte GA-7NNXP, it's a Nforce 2 motherboard.

I know to avoid PCI slot 1 to avoid IRQ conflicts but are there any others?
Chao is back (634)
193654 2003-11-21 08:13:00 You have only given 1/2 the needed info, as it would depend entirely on what you are going to put into the PCI slot plus what other hardware may exist (and be assigned an IRQ) as to any possible conflict (indeed if there were going to be is a debatable question).

Its more "suck it and see" as you don't always know what IRQ is going to be a problem until you try it.

Generally speaking there is no problem. Its an exception, not a rule.
godfather (25)
193655 2003-11-21 08:32:00 I have the same board, and I just chucked in all my cards and everything worked fine.

Normally it seems to be the soundcard that conflicts with the irq that the agp uses. If you are using the onboard audio then you probably have nothing to worry about.

If you are using a soundcard i would highly recommend trying the onboard audio on these boards, it is great. I used to have SB Live 5.1 but ended up ditching it because the Nvidia Soundstorm audio was WAY better.
b1naryb0y (3)
193656 2003-11-21 08:47:00 Yeah I'm installing a Audigy 2 sound card... any more details needed? Chao is back (634)
193657 2003-11-21 08:58:00 For some reason I remember reading something about PCI slot 3 and IRQ conflicts, but this might have been just for my motherboard. I really can't remember.

Best thing you can do is to follow Godfather's advice :D
agent (30)
193658 2003-11-21 11:53:00 this is a case where RTFM can usually enlighten... the last few gigabyte boards I've used have had thorough manuals so I'd assume yours will too... however (IMO) they dont get much better than the Asus manuals, which for my A7N8X-Deluxe state that slots 2 and 4 are the best to be using as they have their own IRQs etc

Normally it wouldnt be an issue but on nForce2 every bit helps, you'll also want to look at increasing your PCI latency to 64 min if possible.. but that's another story (and enough for you to google with)
whetu (237)
193659 2003-11-22 10:09:00 USually in the manual, it'll tell you which slots to avoid. ie: I have the Asus P4P800. It specifically states in the manual "dont use PCI slot 5, if you use WIFI", as they use the same IRQ Spacemannz (808)
193660 2003-11-22 22:18:00 i wouldn't get to overly worried about it. most things will share irq's ok. the main reason for the "don't use pci1 slot" is that early vid cards didn't share irq's very well and pci1 and agp are usually shared.

if you do happen to get an irg shareing problem then siply change what slot its in.

the biggest factor these days for pci card placement is often HEAT, and trying not to block airflow to the hotter cards.
tweak'e (174)
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