Explaining Motherboard Chipsets

Motherboard chipsets explained, including why chipsets are needed and what they do, legacy Northbridge / Southbridge chipsets, and modern platform controller hubs. Plus information on current and recent Intel and AMD chipsets and their processor compatibilities.

If you enjoy this video you may also be interested in these earlier ExplainingComputers episodes:

“Explaining Intel & AMD CPUs”:

“How do CPUs Work?”:

“The big.LITTLE CPU Revolution”:

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:42 Motherboard interfaces
03:12 Chipset Evolution
06:18 Intel Chipsets
09:52 AMD Chipsets
11:46 The Silicon Backbone

#Chipset #Intel #AMD #ExplainingComputers

[ExplainingComputers]

As some of you have noticed, in the Intel diagram from about 06:25 to 07:32, the two labels connected to the processor at the top left should be labelled "x16 PCIe 5.0" and "x4 PCIe 4.0", (not PCI as they appear). My apologies. Somehow, regardless of how many times I check things, an error insists on creeping through! :( The audio correctly describes them as PCIe, as would also be inferred from the previous generic Intel schematic.

[WalterW]

A+ study guides should be written this way.

Clear, concise and retainable.

[rogerkoh]

When getting a motherboard, it is important to check if chipset support the CPU you are buying. Good explanation.

[tasmedic]

Chris, this would have been incredibly difficult to get my head around if it wasn't for those lovely graphics which you must have spent hours on!
Thanks

[YippeePlopFork]

My daughters friend wants to pursue a career in computers - he isn't sure in what capacity yet, he's only 11 but very keen! - and I have sat with him through several of your tutorials. Thank you for your educational material Christopher, his interest - and enthusiasm - have grown considerably and you present the information in a way that is perfect for people - young and old - who want the facts without fluff. I appear to have picked up some additional dad points too!

[lastinline]

Excellent concretization of a concept I only vaguely comprehended previously. These videos continue to interest me, even though I can only partially understand them.

[Antti_Nannimus]

This is another superb and essential entry into the estimable corpus of your fundamental Explaining Computers video series. Everybody benefits by this knowledge when trying to make a computer buying decision. But especially anybody who is trying to design their own do-it-yourself personal computer configuration will benefit greatly by understanding these basic architecture choices. All the permanent functional capabilities are constrained by this choice. Thank you once again, Dr. Barnatt!

[peterthecoderd.]

I used to build and sell computers for years. I knew you needed a "good" chipset, but had no idea of what you explained here. I just accepted the word of my suppliers. Thanks!

[RoyNeeraye]

The animations in the first part of the video were simply awesome! Thanks again for yet another instructive and entertaining episode

[PrinceAlberts]

I was just trying to sort out what I needed to buy in order to build my first gaming PC in almost 20 years. I was trying to sort out what Ryzen 3000 or 500 or X470 all meant. I just about gave up and went Intel for the simple fact that I understood their naming scheme. Thank you for this, now I can actually go in with a little more understanding and choose the processor and chipset that make the most sense for me.

[jonathanmaybury]

Thanks for this video, Chris. For a long time, I have been waiting for someone to show me the difference between a Z motherboard and a B motherboard this was a brilliant video and well worth watching again as a reminder, I wish there were more videos like this one, it explained so much I needed to know about the in's and outs of a computer,

[xpmon]

This is extremely helpful, I've never given much thought to these chipsets I've literally just searched for a motherboard with the right socket and the right connections I need

[jdub]

Wow!! This is the best video on the internet explaining motherboards. Very clear and straight to the point

[chaslinux]

This video reminded me why you're going to hit that 1M subscribers mark. Especially appreciated that you started talking newer chipsets, but also covered older chipsets. Thanks for another excellent video.

[dddonehoo]

You are the sole reason I know/care anything about hardware, as an OS/software nerd. You just make it so easy to follow and produce it so well yet simple and elegant.

[sbc_tinkerer]

An actual Explaining Computers explaining computers video. Back to basics. Well done, as usual!

[picassojeus]

Such lucidity and simplicity in the explanation is a mark of your erudition Christopher. I express my gratitude to you as appreciation for your work. Bravo!!!

[Aliensever]

I'm currently taking a college Computer Tech Supp course and just reading a text book trying to understand chipsets and how they match wihlth the CPU and mobo, this made it so much easier!! I spent 7 hours last night after 8hours of work doing this...

[orleydoss]

I've been watching too long, missed the "Lets go take a closer look" line 😆 as always nicely done 👍!

[watsoft]

No longer confusing! Thanks for making it all so clear and also explaining what Northbridge and Southbridge meant...I was too lazy to look it up myself. Usual excellent presentation.