Understanding Laptop Chipsets

Understanding Laptop Chipsets – IBM T42 laptop motherboard with the following labels: CPU (central processing unit), NB (north bridge), GPU (graphics processing unit) and SB (south bridge)

The southbridge is one of two chips in the core logic chipset of older personal computer (PC) motherboards, the other being the northbridge. As of 2023, most personal computing devices no longer use a two-chip set, but instead have a single chip acting as a “chipset”, for example Intel’s Z790 chipset.

Understanding Laptop Chipsets

The southbridge typically implemented the slower capabilities of the motherboard in a northbridge/southbridge chipset computer architecture. On systems with Intel chipsets, the southbridge has been called I/O Controller Hub (ICH), while AMD has called its southbridge Fusion Controller Hub (FCH) since the introduction of its Fusion Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) while moving The Northbridge functions on the CPU die, making it similar in function to the platform hub controller.… Read the rest