When playing games on my computer, particularly First Person Shooters, the graphics are slow and choppy whenever I press keys on the keyboard. However, if I reassign the function (for example, ‘move forward’) to the mouse then the graphics are fine. My drivers are the latest and I meet the minimum system requirements for the games. Different keyboards do not make a difference. Can you help?

Firstly, we can say that the problem is not related to a specific piece of software, as the problem occurs on different games. Secondly, we can rule out the keyboard as a source of the problem, as the problem persists after changing keyboards. There is a possibility of a conflict between the keyboard and another device. Firstly, go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Run’ and type ‘dxdiag’ (without the quotes) and click OK. In the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window, click the ‘Input’ tab and see if any problems are listed. It may also be worthwhile to check the other tabs (e.g., Display, Sound) for any problems. Assuming no problems are found, exit the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. There is a possibility that your keyboard and another device (e.g., graphics card) have an IRQ (Interrupt Request) conflict. IRQs are used to send control signals to the computer’s processor to inform the processor about the status of the device. When an IRQ is sent, it interrupts the processor. If there is an IRQ conflict, pressing a key on the keyboard could cause problems with the graphics (which you are experiencing). To test whether this is the problem, open the ‘System’ control panel and click the ‘Device Manager’ tab. Expand ‘Keyboards’ and double-click on the listing for your keyboard. In the window that appears, click the ‘Resources’ tab. Check for any conflicts. If there are none, close the window and then open the properties for your video card and check the same details. If there are any conflicts, and you have problems resolving them, please send me the exact details and I will attempt to help. Please let me know how this goes.