What is a bridge chip in the computer

The South Bridge chip (South Bridge) is an important part of the motherboard chipset, typically located far below the CPU slot on the motherboard.

The role of the bridge chip

The bridge chip is responsible for the communication between the I/O bus, such as PCI bus, USB, LAN, ATA, SATA, audio controller, keyboard controller, real-time clock controller, advanced power management, etc., these technologies are generally relatively stable, so the different chipsets may be the same bridge chip, The only difference is the North bridge chip. So now the motherboard chipset in the North Bridge chip number is much more than the South Bridge chip.

The development direction of the South Bridge chip

The development direction of the South Bridge chip is mainly to integrate more functions, such as network card, RAID, IEEE 1394, even Wi-Fi wireless network and so on. South Bridge Chip (South Bridge) is the motherboard chipset in addition to the North Bridge chip is the most important component, generally located in the motherboard from the CPU slot far below the PCI slot, this layout is considered that it is connected to the I/O bus more, away from the processor is conducive to wiring, Moreover, it is easier to realize the wiring principle of long signal line. Compared to the North Bridge chip, the South Bridge chip data processing volume is not large, so the South bridge chip generally do not have to take active cooling, sometimes even the heatsink is not needed.

The relationship between the bridge chip and the North Bridge chip

Different bridge chips can be paired with different North bridge chip, although there is a certain corresponding relationship, but as long as the connection bus matching and PIN compatible, the motherboard manufacturers can choose at will. The most obvious example is the Amd-ati chipset, whose North bridge chip can be either paired with its own South bridge chip or a Uli or via bridge chip. In addition, many typical chipsets can also use a different South bridge.