6. BIOS settings
On a BIOS level, ensure all unused on-board devices are deactivated. This usually includes, but might not be restricted to devices like:

Serial Ports
Parallel Port
Onboard Sound
Onboard Game port
Onboard Graphics
Note: Do not deactivate devices you require for the system to function properly (e.g. do not turn off your onboard graphics if this is the only display adapter you have in your system).



The following suggestions are about specific BIOS setting that may or may not be applicable to your system. If in double, please verify with the system vendor.

System Performance:
Collective setting that sets a number of values to influence the systems performance (possible settings: "Turbo", "Fast", "Optimal", "Normal", etc. The naming depends on the BIOS version/motherboard manufacturer. If unclear, contact motherboard manufacturer for more information).

VGA Shared Memory Size:
Applicable if the motherboards onboard graphics adapter is active. Instead of having dedicated graphics RAM, some onboard VGA solutions require you to reserve a certain amount of the systems main memory.
Increasing the memory set aside for the onboard graphics adapter can help reducing traffic on the system.

Note: Ensure not to reserve too much of your systems RAM, as this might result in a system-wide slowdown.

AGP Aperture Size (MB):
It defines how much of your system's memory is to be used as a data buffer for your AGP graphics card. The default setting should be half the system''s RAM, however, certain cards work better with specific settings (e.g.: 128 MB despite having 512 MB in the system).

Peer Concurrency:
This setting defines if multiple PCI devices can access the PCI BUS simultaneously. Set this to "Disable" if you are unsure whether all PCI devices in your system support this option.

PCI 2.1 Support:
All Creative PCI sound cards adhere to PCI 2.1 specifications. This setting must be enabled for your Sound Blaster card to function properly. Note: Some BIOS's might have various options for this setting (e.g.: 2.0, 2.1, 2.2).

Spread Spectrum Control:
This setting reduces Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) by slightly modulating the master clock of your motherboard. Audio glitches might occur on some systems if this setting is enabled.

PCI Latency Timer:
The PCI Latency Timer is a mechanism that helps PCI bus-mastering capable devices to share the PCI bus. Each PCI device able to operate in bus-master mode is required to implement a timer, called the Latency Timer, that limits the time the device can hold the PCI bus. The timer starts when the device gains bus ownership, and counts down at the rate of the PCI clock. When the counter reaches zero, the device is required to release the bus. If no other devices are waiting for bus ownership, it may simply grab the bus again and transfer more data.

If the latency timer is set too low, PCI devices will interrupt their transfers unnecessarily often, hurting performance. If it's set too high, devices that require frequent bus access may overflow their buffers, losing data.

Experiment with this value. A good starting point would be 32 (often the default found in many systems BIOS's). Once the PCI Latency Timer has been changed, the new settings have to be saved and the PC needs to boot back into the Operating System. If this doesn't lead to the desired result, repeat the procedure.

Memory Hole:
This setting needs to be disabled unless you have a device that requires a 1 MB area assigned to it.

AGP Fast Writes:
Allows the graphics chip to communicate with the chipset / CPU directly. Enable this setting if your graphics card as well as your motherboard support this.

PNP Aware OS:
Try setting this to No.

Update the systems BIOS:
It is advisable to update the BIOS of your system, if none of the above steps solve the problem.