- How a Motherboard Brings It All Together
- How the Chipset Directs Traffic
- How PCI-Express Breaks the Bus Barrier
How the Chipset Directs Traffic
THE PERSONAL COMPUTER has become so complex that even the most recent, powerful processors can’t do the entire job of managing the flow of data by themselves. The CPU has been given help in the form of the chipset, located nearby on the motherboard. Until recently, the chip traditionally consisted of two microchips, often referred to as the North Bridgeand the South Bridge, that act as the administrators to the CPU, or chief executive. The chipset bridges logical and physical gaps between the CPU and other chips, all the time watching and controlling the input and output of specific components. The exact function of the chipset is constantly changing. The bridges have been put into one chip in most modern designs, and even the CPU packaging now reclaims some functions. But in all cases, the bridges deter-mine what kinds of memory, processors, and other components can work with that particular motherboard. Here, we stick with the conventional North-South distribution because it makes it easier to illustrate all these functions.