What do modern computer chipsets look like?
Chipset - a set of chips designed to work together
So, in computers, a chipset located onmotherboard, performs the function of a connecting component (bridge) that ensures the interaction of the central processing unit (CPU) with various types of memory, input-output devices, controllers and PU adapters, both directly through itself (and having some of them in its composition), and via other controllers and adapters, using a multilevel bus system.
Because the CPU generally can't interact with them directly.The chipset defines the functionality of the motherboard.It includes the processor bus interface and ultimately determines the type and performance of the processor being used.
It largely determines the type, volume, speed and type of supported memory, operating frequencies of various buses, their bit width and type, and support for boardsextensions, their number and type, etc.
Thus, this chipset is one of the most important components of the system, largely determining its speed, expandability, stability under various settings and conditions, upgradeability, scope of application, etc.D.
Being essentially the basis of the platform/motherboard, chipsets are also found in other devices, such as cell phones and network media players.
Chipset motherboards of modern computers consist ofof two main chips (sometimes combined into a single chip, the so-called system controller hub:
- memory controller hub Connects to the CPU by a high-speed bus (FSB, HyperTransport, or QPI).In modern CPUs (e.g. Opteron, Itanium, Nehalem, UltraSPARC T1), the controllermemory can be integrated directly into the CPU.The MCH of some chipsets can be integratedIntegrate a GPU
- I / O controller hub - Enables CPU-to-HDD interoperability, PCI cards, low-speed PCI Express interfaces, IDE, SATA, USB, and more.
Sometimes the chipset includes a Super I / O microcircuit, which is connected to the south bridge via the Low Pin Count bus and is responsible for low-speed ports: RS232, LPT, PS / 2.
There are also chipsets that differ markedly fromtraditional scheme. For example, processors for the LGA 1156 socket have the functionality of the north bridge (connection to the video card and memory) fully integrated into the processor itself, and therefore the chipset for the LGA 1156 consists of one south bridge connected to the processor via the DMI bus.
Creation of a full-fledged computing system for personal and home computers based on such a small number of chips (chipsetand microprocessor) is a consequence of the development of technological processes of microelectronics, developing according to Moore's Law.
Chipsets for modern x86 processors
Chipsets that support new processors are primarily in the interest of processor manufacturers.That's why the leading CPU manufacturers (Intel and AMD) are producing trial kits specifically for motherboard manufacturers.
After running in, new ones are released on such chipsets.series of motherboards, and licenses are issued to various manufacturers and, sometimes, subcontractors of the motherboard manufacturers as they move to the market.
List of major chipset manufacturers for x86 architecture:
- Intel
- NVidia
- ATI/AMD: Following the acquisition of ATi by AMD Corporation in 2006, it became part of the company as the graphics divisionAMD Graphics Products Group.
- VIA
- SiS
ARM Chipsets
For systems using ARM processors, alsochipsets were created and are being created. And if the first samples were generally similar to their modern IBM PC chipsets, then modern ones (such as Qualcomm Snapdragon and Texas Instruments DaVinci), due to the focus on mobile devices, noticeably differ both in structure and in technical features.
Chipset manufacturers
- Intel
The marking of the chipset with a letter in front of the number means the power of the chipset within one line.
X - Maximum Performance for Gaming PCs
P - High Performance for Powerful Mainstream Computers
G — for a regular home or office computer
B, Q — for business.The characteristics are the same as "G", but haveAdditional features such as remote maintenance and access monitoring for large office and enterprise admins.
The first thing that attracts attention is the lack of a northbridge.Works with processors with integrated Intel Core series Processor Graphics.For a home computer, the built-in kernel will be enough to work with documents and watch videos.
However, if you need more performance, for example, when installing modern games, then the chipsetSupports the installation of multiple graphics cards in the slotPCI Express 3.
Moreover, when installing 1 video card, it will use 16 lines, two - each with 8 lines, or one 8, the other 4, and the remaining 4 lines will beare used to work with Thunderbolt devices.
- AMD
The weakest in terms of performance are those models with only numbers in the name:
The letters G or V in the model name indicate the presence of an integrated video card in the chipset.
X or GX – support for two separate (discrete) graphics cards, but not at full power (8 lanes each).
FX are the most powerful chipsets that fully support multiple graphics cards.
The bus that connects the processor and chipset at AMD is called Hyper Transport (HT).
How to choose a chipset?
- Number of Cores
There is a misconception that the more cores the better, but this is not true.
Recall that we are talking about one of the parts of the system on a chip, namely, the central processing unit (CPU). The CPU is responsible for general management of the chipset and applications from 3 parties.
It is worth remembering the rule that the limitation of performance growth occurs due to an increase in the number of computers.Gene Amdahl formulated the law in 1967.So the more cores mean the more power consumption.
Sometimes, due to the large number of cores, it is impossible to place something else. the physical size of the chipset is limited.
- Clock frequency
The clock speed of the CPU is also important.2.45 GHz and is needed for short-term high loads (for example, when processing 4K30 video, when transmitting data over the LTE network at speeds up to 1 Gbps) or for benchmarking tasks.
- Which manufacturers should you pay attention to?
- Qualcom
- Intel
- Samsung
- HiSilicon
- Mediatek
- Spreadtrum
A selection of the most productive chips
- AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
AMD started Radeon RX 6900 XT sales 8 December2020 priced at $ 999. This is Navi / RDNA2 architecture desktop card based on 7 nm manufacturing process and primarily aimed at gamers. 16 GB of GDDR6 memory clocked at 16 GHz are supplied, and together with 256 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 512.0 GB / s.
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
NVIDIA started GeForce RTX 3090 24 salesSeptember 2020 priced at $ 1,499. This is Ampere architecture desktop card based on 8 nm manufacturing process and primarily aimed at gamers. 24 GB of GDDR6X memory clocked at 19.5 GHz are supplied, and together with 384 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 936.2 GB / s.
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
NVIDIA started GeForce RTX 3080 16 salesSeptember 2020 at a price of $ 699. This is Ampere architecture desktop card based on 8 nm manufacturing process and primarily aimed at gamers. 10 GB of GDDR6X memory clocked at 19 GHz are supplied, and together with 320 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 760.3 GB / s.
- AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
AMD started Radeon RX 6800 XT sales 18 November2020 priced at $ 649. This is Navi / RDNA2 architecture desktop card based on 7 nm manufacturing process and primarily aimed at gamers. 16 GB of GDDR6 memory clocked at 16 GHz are supplied, and together with 256 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 512.0 GB / s.
- NVIDIA RTX A6000
NVIDIA started RTX A6000 sales October 5, 2020price of $ 4,649. This is Ampere architecture desktop card based on 8 nm manufacturing process and primarily aimed at gamers. 48 GB of GDDR6 memory clocked at 16 GB / s are installed on it, and together with 384-bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 768.0 GB / s.
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