Northbridge (computing)

A northbridge or host bridge is one of the two chips in the core logic chipset architecture on a PC motherboard, the other being the southbridge. Unlike the southbridge, northbridge is connected directly to the CPU via the frontside bus (FSB) and thus responsible for tasks that require the highest performance. The northbridge is usually paired with a southbridge, also known as I/O controller hub. In systems where they are included, these two chips manage communications between the CPU and other parts of the motherboard, and constitute the core logic chipset of the PC motherboard.

On older Intel based PCs, the northbridge was also named external memory controller hub (MCH) or integrated memory controller hub (IMCH) if equipped with an integrated VGA memory controller hub (MCH). Increasingly these functions became integrated into the CPU chip itself, beginning with memory and graphics controllers. For Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Accelerated Processing Unit processors introduced in 2011, all of the functions of the northbridge reside on the CPU, while some high-performance CPUs still require northbridge and southbridge chips externally.

Northbridge

Northbridge or North Bridge may refer to:

Places

(German: Nordbrücke)

Other uses

Northbridge, Massachusetts

Northbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,707 at the 2010 census. The Northbridge Town Hall is located at 7 Main Street in Whitinsville. The town is now a part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, of the National Park Service. Northbridge claims to history include: Native American Nipmuc lands, Colonel John Spring, who led the Uxbridge militia training company in the American Revolution, Samuel Spring, Revolutionary War Chaplain, the Residence of Ezra T. Benson 1830-1832, the birthplace of President Millard Fillmore's mother, Phoebe, and home to the Whitin Machine Works from 1831 to 1964

For geographic and demographic information on the village of Whitinsville, please see the article Whitinsville, Massachusetts.

History

Early history