<s>
In	O
a	O
computer	O
system	O
,	O
a	O
chipset	B-Device
is	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
electronic	O
components	O
in	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
integrated	O
circuits	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
Data	B-Application
Flow	I-Application
Management	O
System	O
"	O
that	O
manages	O
the	O
data	B-Application
flow	I-Application
between	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
,	O
memory	B-General_Concept
and	O
peripherals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
usually	O
found	O
on	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chipsets	B-Device
are	O
usually	O
designed	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
a	O
specific	O
family	O
of	O
microprocessors	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
it	O
controls	O
communications	O
between	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
and	O
external	O
devices	O
,	O
the	O
chipset	B-Device
plays	O
a	O
crucial	O
role	O
in	O
determining	O
system	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
computing	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
chipset	B-Device
commonly	O
refers	O
to	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
specialized	O
chips	O
on	O
a	O
computer	O
's	O
motherboard	B-Device
or	O
an	O
expansion	B-Device
card	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
,	O
the	O
first	O
chipset	B-Device
for	O
the	O
IBM	B-Operating_System
PC	I-Operating_System
AT	I-Operating_System
of	O
1984	O
was	O
the	O
NEAT	B-Device
chipset	I-Device
developed	O
by	O
Chips	O
and	O
Technologies	O
for	O
the	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
80286	I-General_Concept
CPU	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
home	O
computers	O
,	O
game	O
consoles	O
,	O
and	O
arcade	O
hardware	O
of	O
the	O
1980s	O
and	O
1990s	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
chipset	B-Device
was	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
custom	O
audio	B-Device
and	O
graphics	O
chips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
include	O
the	O
Original	B-Device
Amiga	I-Device
chipset	I-Device
and	O
Sega	O
's	O
System	O
16	O
chipset	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
x86-based	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
,	O
the	O
term	O
chipset	B-Device
often	O
refers	O
to	O
a	O
specific	O
pair	O
of	O
chips	O
on	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
:	O
the	O
northbridge	B-Device
and	O
the	O
southbridge	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
northbridge	B-Device
links	O
the	O
CPU	O
to	O
very	O
high-speed	O
devices	O
,	O
especially	O
RAM	O
and	O
graphics	B-Device
controllers	I-Device
,	O
and	O
the	O
southbridge	B-Device
connects	O
to	O
lower-speed	O
peripheral	O
buses	B-General_Concept
(	O
such	O
as	O
PCI	B-Protocol
or	O
ISA	B-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
many	O
modern	O
chipsets	B-Device
,	O
the	O
southbridge	B-Device
contains	O
some	O
on-chip	O
integrated	O
peripherals	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Ethernet	O
,	O
USB	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
audio	B-Device
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Motherboards	B-Device
and	O
their	O
chipsets	B-Device
often	O
come	O
from	O
different	O
manufacturers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
manufacturers	O
of	O
chipsets	B-Device
for	O
x86	B-Operating_System
motherboards	B-Device
include	O
AMD	O
,	O
Intel	O
,	O
VIA	O
Technologies	O
and	O
Zhaoxin	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
1990s	O
,	O
a	O
major	O
designer	O
and	O
manufacturer	O
of	O
chipsets	B-Device
was	O
VLSI	O
Technology	O
in	O
Tempe	O
,	O
Arizona	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
early	O
Apple	B-Device
Power	I-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
PCs	B-Device
(	O
that	O
used	O
the	O
Motorola	O
68030	O
and	O
68040	O
)	O
had	O
chipsets	B-Device
from	O
VLSI	O
Technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
their	O
innovations	O
included	O
the	O
integration	O
of	O
PCI	B-Protocol
bridge	I-Protocol
logic	O
,	O
the	O
GraphiCore	O
2D	O
graphics	O
accelerator	O
and	O
direct	O
support	O
for	O
synchronous	O
DRAM	O
,	O
the	O
forerunner	O
of	O
DDR	O
SDRAM	O
memory	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
1980s	O
,	O
Chips	O
and	O
Technologies	O
pioneered	O
the	O
manufacturing	O
of	O
chipsets	B-Device
for	O
PC-compatible	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computer	O
systems	O
produced	O
since	O
then	O
often	O
share	O
commonly	O
used	O
chipsets	B-Device
,	O
even	O
across	O
widely	O
disparate	O
computing	O
specialties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
NCR	O
53C9x	O
,	O
a	O
low-cost	O
chipset	B-Device
implementing	O
a	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
interface	O
to	O
storage	O
devices	O
,	O
could	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
Unix	B-Application
machines	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
MIPS	B-Device
Magnum	I-Device
,	O
embedded	O
devices	O
,	O
and	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Traditionally	O
in	O
x86	B-Operating_System
computers	O
,	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
's	O
primary	O
connection	O
to	O
the	O
rest	O
of	O
the	O
machine	O
was	O
through	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
chipset	B-Device
's	O
northbridge	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
northbridge	B-Device
was	O
directly	O
responsible	O
for	O
communications	O
with	O
high-speed	O
devices	O
(	O
system	O
memory	B-General_Concept
and	O
primary	O
expansion	O
buses	B-General_Concept
,	O
such	O
as	O
PCIe	O
,	O
AGP	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
PCI	B-Protocol
cards	I-Protocol
,	O
being	O
common	O
examples	O
)	O
and	O
conversely	O
any	O
system	O
communication	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
connection	O
between	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
and	O
northbridge	B-Device
is	O
commonly	O
designated	O
the	O
front-side	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
(	O
FSB	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Requests	O
to	O
resources	O
not	O
directly	O
controlled	O
by	O
the	O
northbridge	B-Device
were	O
offloaded	O
to	O
the	O
southbridge	B-Device
,	O
with	O
the	O
northbridge	B-Device
being	O
an	O
intermediary	O
between	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
and	O
the	O
southbridge	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
southbridge	B-Device
handled	O
"	O
everything	O
else	O
"	O
,	O
generally	O
lower-speed	O
peripherals	O
and	O
board	O
functions	O
(	O
the	O
largest	O
being	O
hard	O
disk	O
and	O
storage	O
connectivity	O
)	O
such	O
as	O
USB	B-Protocol
,	O
parallel	O
and	O
serial	O
communications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990s	O
and	O
early	O
2000s	O
,	O
the	O
interface	O
between	O
a	O
northbridge	B-Device
and	O
southbridge	B-Device
was	O
the	O
PCI	B-Protocol
bus	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
2003	O
,	O
any	O
interaction	O
between	O
a	O
CPU	O
and	O
main	O
memory	B-General_Concept
or	O
an	O
expansion	O
device	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
graphics	O
card(s )	O
—	O
whether	O
AGP	B-Architecture
,	O
PCI	B-Protocol
or	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
—	O
was	O
directly	O
controlled	O
by	O
the	O
northbridge	B-Device
IC	O
on	O
behalf	O
of	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
made	O
processor	B-General_Concept
performance	O
highly	O
dependent	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
chipset	B-Device
,	O
especially	O
the	O
northbridge	B-Device
's	O
memory	B-General_Concept
performance	O
and	O
ability	O
to	O
shuttle	O
this	O
information	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Athlon64	O
marked	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
an	O
integrated	O
memory	B-General_Concept
controller	O
being	O
incorporated	O
into	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
itself	O
thus	O
allowing	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
to	O
directly	O
access	O
and	O
handle	O
memory	B-General_Concept
,	O
negating	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
traditional	O
northbridge	B-Device
to	O
do	O
so	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
followed	O
suit	O
in	O
2008	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
its	O
Core	B-Device
i	I-Device
series	O
CPUs	O
and	O
the	O
X58	B-Device
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
fewer	O
functions	O
are	O
left	O
un-handled	O
by	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
,	O
chipset	B-Device
vendors	O
have	O
condensed	O
the	O
remaining	O
northbridge	B-Device
and	O
southbridge	B-Device
functions	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
chip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
's	O
version	O
of	O
this	O
is	O
the	O
"	O
Platform	B-Device
Controller	I-Device
Hub	I-Device
"	O
(	O
PCH	O
)	O
while	O
AMD	O
's	O
version	O
was	O
called	O
Fusion	O
Controller	O
Hub	O
(	O
FCH	O
;	O
this	O
name	O
stopped	O
being	O
used	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
Zen	O
architecture	O
)	O
,	O
effectively	O
an	O
enhanced	O
southbridge	B-Device
for	O
the	O
remaining	O
peripherals	O
—	O
as	O
traditional	O
northbridge	B-Device
duties	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
memory	B-General_Concept
controller	O
,	O
expansion	B-Device
bus	I-Device
(	O
PCIe	O
)	O
interface	O
and	O
even	O
on-board	O
video	B-Device
controller	I-Device
,	O
are	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
CPU	O
die	O
itself	O
(	O
the	O
chipset	B-Device
often	O
contains	O
secondary	O
PCIe	O
connections	O
though	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
Platform	B-Device
Controller	I-Device
Hub	I-Device
was	O
also	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
package	O
as	O
a	O
second	O
die	O
for	O
mobile	O
variants	O
of	O
the	O
Skylake	B-Architecture
processors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
northbridge	B-Device
to	O
southbridge	B-Device
interconnect	B-General_Concept
interfaces	O
used	O
now	O
are	O
DMI	B-Architecture
(	O
Intel	O
)	O
and	O
UMI	B-Architecture
(	O
AMD	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
