in xp you can prioritize device IRQs to improve performance open the system information utility (msinfo32.exe) ..to view your systems IRQs navigate to Hardware Resources\IRQs open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PriorityControl create a new DWORD value called IRQ#Priority, where # would be the IRQ of the device to prioritize (for example IRQ8Priority for IRQ 8, your system CMOS). double-click the new value, and enter a number for its priority.. enter 1 for top priority, 2 for second, and so-on.. make sure not to enter the same priority number for two entries.. keep it simple at first by experimenting with only one or two values.. good results can be achieved by prioritizing IRQ 8 (the system CMOS) and the video cards corresponding IRQ export your settings to a reg file and add them to your reg tweaks reboot your machine