Northbridge facts for kids
The northbridge is one of two main computer chips found on your computer's motherboard. Think of the motherboard as the computer's main circuit board, where all the important parts connect. The other main chip is called the southbridge. Together, these two chips form what's known as the computer's chipset. Usually, the northbridge and southbridge are separate chips, but they work very closely together.
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What Does the Northbridge Do?
The northbridge acts like a super-fast traffic controller for your computer. It helps different parts of the computer talk to each other very quickly. It's especially important for connecting the fastest parts of your computer.
Connecting Key Computer Parts
The northbridge is directly connected to some of the most vital components in your computer:
- CPU (the computer's brain): The northbridge helps the CPU communicate with other parts.
- RAM (short-term memory): It manages how the CPU accesses information stored in RAM.
- AGP port or PCI Express bus (for graphics cards): It provides a fast connection for your computer's graphics card, which is super important for games and videos.
- Southbridge: It also connects to the southbridge, which handles slower connections.
Some northbridge chips were designed to work with more than one type of RAM memory. This was helpful when new memory standards were being introduced, allowing computers to be more flexible.
Why is the Northbridge Important?
The northbridge is a really important part of your motherboard because it decides many key things about your computer's performance.
How it Affects Your Computer
The northbridge helps determine:
- Speed: How fast your computer can process information.
- Processor types: Which kinds of CPUs can work with your motherboard.
- Number of processors: If your computer can use more than one CPU.
- RAM memory: The type and amount of RAM your computer can use.
Other factors like how power is managed and the number of connectors on the motherboard also play a role, but the northbridge is central to these core functions.
The Northbridge's Evolution
Over time, computer technology changes rapidly. The role of the northbridge has also evolved.
Changes in Design
In newer computer designs, especially those using AMD's AMD64 processors, the part that controls the RAM (called the memory controller) was moved directly into the CPU itself. Other big computer companies like Intel and IBM have also started doing this with their newer processors. This change helps the CPU access RAM even faster, making the computer more efficient.
Images for kids
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A normal north/southbridge layout
