The chipset is the core of the motherboard. A motherboard's CPU support, graphics support, major I/O device support and expansion (add-in) card support all depend on the chipset. When building a computer, please determine your processor first, and then find the right motherboard to support it and the all other hardware you will be using through the chipset information provided here.

The term "chipset" (sometimes called core logic) often refers to the two main chips on the motherboard: the Northbridge and the Southbridge. The Northbridge (or GMCH/MCH in Intel chipsets) often refers to the chip that handles communications between the CPU, memory, AGP or PCI Express and the Southbridge. The Northbridge often includes the memory controller. Some models will also contain an integrated graphics unit (they are called the GMCH in Intel chipsets).

Note: If the chipset supports ECC memory, you can take full advantage by using ECC memory modules. This, however, does not mean you are required to use ECC memory modules.

The Southbridge (Intel calls this the ICH) provides connections to I/O devices, such as the PCI bus, USB, PATA, SATA and PCI Express devices. Other Southbridge functions include interrupt controller, real time clock, power management (ACPI and APM), SMBus and so on. Southbridge chips are usually connected to Northbridge chips.

There are five major chipset makers providing Intel platform core logic products today: ATI (acquired by AMD), Intel itself, NVIDIA (ULi has been acquired by NVIDIA), SiS and VIA. Let’s find out what they have for us.

Notice:
1. Here we only provide chipset specifications - the actual motherboard features (such as CPU support and memory support) may be slightly different due to each motherboard manufacturer’s chosen implementation. Please refer to each motherboard’s detailed specifications for more accurate information.

2. The following section is not a full list of all chipset products (for instance, all chipsets designed for Pentium III and earlier processors are not included), only popular/commonly used chipsets have been included.

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ATI

The following chipsets support the full range of Intel Pentium D, Pentium 4, and Intel Celeron/Celeron D processors.

The Northbridge chips listed above are usually paired with one of the following Southbridge chips:

Some motherboards pair ULi Southbridge chips with ATI Northbridge chips. Please refer to NVIDIA & ULi section for details.

Intel

845 family

The Intel Pentium 4, Celeron and Celeron D processors can be supported by the following chipsets:

Note: The 845GL does not support HyperThreading technology.

The above Northbridge chips are usually paired with the ICH4:

875/865/848 families

The Intel Pentium 4, Celeron and Celeron D processors can be supported by the following chipsets:

The above Northbridge chips are usually paired with a Southbridge chip from the ICH5 family:

925/915/910 families

These chipset families were the first to support the PCI Express bus. They support Pentium 4, Celeron and Celeron D processors, but do not support dual core Pentium D processors.

Note: The 915GM and ICH6-M are mobile products; A few manufacturers use them to make desktop motherboards that support Pentium M/Celeron M processors.

The above Northbridge chips are usually paired with a Southbridge chip from the ICH6 family:

975/955/945 families

The following chipsets support dual-core Pentium D processors, as well as the Pentium 4 (including the Extreme Editions), Celeron, and Celeron D from Intel.

Notes:

1. The 945GT supports the Core Duo and Pentium M processors.

2. The Pentium Extreme Edition 840 processor is supported by the 955X and 975X only.

3. The Pentium Extreme Edition 955/965 processors are supported by the 975X only.

The above Northbridge chips are usually paired with a Southbridge chip from the ICH7 family:

Note: The ICH7DH features Intel Quick Resume Technology (QRT).

946 families

946 chipsets are basically 945 chipsets with improvements. They add support for certain Core 2 Duo processors. The 946 Northbridge chips are usually paired with a Southbridge chip from the ICH7 family as well.

965 families

The following chipsets support the dual-core Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme, and Pentium D processors as well as the Pentium 4 (including the Extreme Editions) and Celeron D processors from Intel.

Note: The Q965 can support either the Alerting Standard Format (ASF) or Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT), while the Q963 can only support ASF. The P965 and G965 can support none of them.

The above Northbridge chip is usually paired with a Southbridge chip from the ICH8 family:

Note: The ICH8DH features Intel Quick Resume Technology (QRT), and the ICH8DO features Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT)

NVIDIA & ULi

NVIDIA chipsets here include the MCP and SPP chips (i.e. the Northbridge and Southbridge chips) listed together. All chipsets support dual-core Pentium D, as well as the Pentium 4 (including the Extreme Editions), Celeron, and Celeron D from Intel. nForce 500 and nForce 600 series chipsets support Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors as well.

Certain processors (mainly the Pentium D 820) may not be supported by early versions of these chipsets. Please refer to the detailed specifications of each motherboard for more information.

ULi Southbridge chips:

SiS

The following chipsets support dual-core Pentium D processors as well as Pentium 4, Celeron, and Celeron D processors from Intel.

The Northbridge chips listed above are usually paired with one of the following Southbridge chips:

VIA

The following VIA chipsets can support the Intel Pentium 4, Celeron and Celeron D processors.

The Northbridge chips listed above are usually paired with one of the following Southbridge chips:

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