Before I begin I just want to say that I think New Vegas is what fallout 3 should've been. Way better in all respects EXCEPT the things I'm gonna write about below:


I've been messing around with the good old IRQ numbers. I realised after a couple of days of trial and error, that as soon as more than one computer unit (mouse, sound, graphics etc) shared IRQ the computer would crash, with sufficient input from one of these devices. This is not supposed to happen in windows XP OR windows 7, because IRQ is shareable in modern OS:s.

After making sure that the IRQ of mouse, soundcard, graphics etc I lose all easily reproducible BSODs. But I'm still left with a few mor random ones.

Unfortunately I'm not good enough with memory readers to see what actually happens, but I'm suspecting that the New Vegas code contains some very unforgiving lines (I.E. poorly made). I read somewhere that IRQ 9 is somehow is involved in managing shared IRQs. (not working in New Vegas?)

Now on to the random crashes.

1) Out walking and sudden BSOD? This only happens (and rarely) to me when I enter an area I've not previously visited. Bad code? Something spawned? Dunno... (I have no memory errors. I've checked)

2) VATS BSODs infrequently when firing. (No longer using VATS and I can play for an entire day without a single crash)

Now if the software flaws had been ordinary then the game would crash. Nothing unusual there these days (sad really). But the numerous crashes in New Vegas results in BSOD. (Actually I've seen one regular crash out of 46, since I started counting during my trials)

Since I used multiple systems(3, 2 XP and one w7) during my trials and there's so many BSODs, my only conclusion is that New Vegas introduced som very rigid programming. So strict in fact that the game is hardly playable in some cases.

So yes the game can be run almost without a hitch if you check IRQs (which you shouldnt have to with a modern OS) and don't use VATS (which removes a fun part of the game). But then again if the programming had been better the game would have been totally awesome.


Facts:

3 systems used
I've assembled all three myself. I didn't pay much attention when building my wifes and that's where the worst ofc. It really bugged me that everything else worked fine on the systems (We're kinda hardcoe gamers)

And yes all 3 can deal with ultra settings and still have excellent performance. All drivers up to date. Drives in good shape.

IRQ9 should always be dedicated to the IDE system, and nothing should share it, with 14/15 being locked to the sATA controller. 01 is for ps/2 mouse and keyboard. Regardless of that IRQ's should always be handled by the ACPI system controller which expands the number available. 16 through 23 are designed to be shared by legacy hardware, along with 4 through 7.