Soundscape Mixpander
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This makes the Soundscape platform more efficient than others, since the "native" PCI Burst Speed
can be used for an Interrupt (PCI Latency Timer set to 64), whereas other cards may use different
values like for instance 255, making them more tolerant but also making it difficult for other
devices to get CPU attention.
Generally speaking, if you are specifying a PC for Soundscape, we recommend NForce chipsets for
AMD processors and Intel chipsets for Intel processors. VIA and SIS chipsets are best avoided,
whatever your choice of processor.
Parameter Recommended setting
PCI Latency Timer * 64
Spread Spectrum Clock Disable
System Speed and Overclocking (Turbo Mode) Disable or Standard
Onboard Audio/Gameport/MIDI Disable
Unused onboard devices (e.g. Serial Port/Com, LPT Printer, FW, USB) Disable
Parameter Recommended setting
PCI Latency Timer * 64
Spread Spectrum Clock Disable
System Speed and Overclocking (Turbo Mode) Disable or Standard
Onboard Audio/Gameport/MIDI Disable
Unused onboard devices (e.g. Serial Port/Com, LPT Printer, FW, USB) Disable
* If your BIOS does not allow you to set the PCI Latency value, you may use the "PCI Latency
Tool" available from http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=951
Soundscape PCI audio cards require an IRQ number to operate (this is not the case for the PCI
Host Interface card). They may share an IRQ with another device, provided that the other device is
also fully capable of sharing an IRQ. Multiple Soundscape PCI audio cards may share the same
IRQ.
On systems that use hyperthreading there is no way to assign physical IRQs to chosen PCI slots. In
ACPI mode (which is a must when using hyperthreading or dual CPU systems), the BIOS and
Windows manage all PCI devices through the PCI Interrupt Handler on IRQ 9, and only allow
IRQs higher than 15 for PCI devices, regardless of settings made in the BIOS.