What is CHIPSET in computer ? CHIPSET IN COMPUTER A chipset is defined as a set of electronic components embedded on an integrated circuit in the computer system. The role of the chipset is to manage and control the flow of data between processor, memory, and peripherals. The chipset is located on the motherboard and is often is referred to as a core component of the Motherboard. It determines the performance of the system by controlling communication between the processor and external devices. Due to this, mostly the chipset design is limited to operating on a specific group of microprocessors INTEL CHIPSET 915 Intel chipset 915 was introduced in the year 2004. It belongs to Grantsdale Family and is hence code-named Grantsdale. There are five members in the Intel chipset 915 product Family. They Intel Chipset are 915PL,915P,915G,915GV, and 915GVL. These chipsets were the first who make use of the LGA775 socket processor interface. All the chipsets were manufactured using Intel’s 90-nanometre technology (ie.,90 nm Pentium 4 Prescott core). The chipsets were optimized in order to use it with intel’s upcoming Hyperthreading technology. They supported bus speeds of 800MHz. One of the significant revolutions was the development of the PCI express. There are two different types of PCI express slots supported by 915 chipsets S.NO FEATURES DESCRIPTION 1. PCI express It provides high-speed bidirectional connections between add on cards and chipset It supports two PCI express slots a) PCI Express X16- It has 16 lanes which provide performance up to 1600 MBPS in each direction b) PCI Express X16- It has one lane which provides performance up to 100 MBPS in each direction 2. Memory Type It supports DDR2 memory of 400 MHz and 533 MHz. It also makes use of DDR Memory 3. Audio 915 chipset is the first to support Intel’s High Audio (HDA) technology. It enables premium digital sound and delivers advanced features 4. Storage Interface Ports It supports second-generation SATA RAID. Improved storage performance through high speed, efficient storage interfaces support faster transfer rate to improved access 5. I/O Controller hub It supports the ICH6 family I/O controller hub. 6. Inter Matrix Technology It supports Intex Matrix storage technology (i) PCI Express X16- It has 16 lanes which provide performance up to 1600 MBPS in each direction (ii) PCI Express X16. It has one lane which provides performance up to 100 MBPS in each directionBesides this, it also supports PCI version 2.3 bus master expansion slots. It supports a dual-channel DDR-2 type of memory. Later on advanced memory standard advanced DDR-2 was introduced which supported an enhanced speed of 533 MHz915 G offers two optionsIt has Intel integrated graphics media accelerator 900 (900 GMA). GMA 900 supports the partial feature of direct X9 (ie., it doesn’t have pixel shaders in hardware and vertex shader in software) which is compatible with NVIDIA and ATIIt supports PCI express slot (PCI-X 16), while all the other chipsets do not support all the chipsets supported I/O controller hub ICH6 family. INTEL CHIPSET 945 Intel Chipset 945 was introduced in the year 2005 with lakeport as its codename. There are three models in the intel 945 chipset a) 945Gb) 0945 Pc) 945 PL They have been mainly designed to support intel’s dual-core Pentium D processors. 945 G and 945 P can handle front-side bus speeds up to 1066 MHz and Dual-channel DDR2 memory up to 667 MHZ. They support the external Graphic interface PCI X16, which delivers enhanced bandwidth and also supports the latest graphics cards. Besides this, 945 G includes GMA 950 integrated graphics, which is an advanced version of GMA 900 S NO. Features 945 G 945 P 945 PL 1. CPU LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 2. CPU Front Side Bus (FSB) 1066 MHz 1066 MHz 800 MHz 3. Memory Type Dual-channel DDR 2 400/553/667 Dual-channel DDR 2 400/553/667 Dual-channel DDR 2 400/553/ 4. Maximum Memory Capacity 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 5. Integrated Graphics GMA 950 NO NO 6. External Graphics PCI Express X16 PCI Express X16 PCI Express X16 7. I/O Controller hub ICH7 Family ICH7 Family ICH7 Family 8. Intel Matrix Storage technology YES NO NO 9. Storage interface ports Serial ATA, SATA RAID 5, Matrix RAID Serial ATA, SATA RAID 5, Matrix RAID Serial ATA, SATA RAID 5, Matrix RAID In addition to providing improved Graphics. GMA 950 supports media expansion cards enabling the user to yield benefits of various video output options from a single card. All the 945 family chipset supported I/O controller Hub of ICH7 family INTEL CHIPSET 965 The chipset was introduced in the year 2006 It belongs to the Broadwater family and hence codes named Grantsdale. It was mainly designed to feature intel core 2 processors such as dual-core and quad-core. The Intel chipset 965 series comprises four different models as discussed below. S.NO Features Q965 P965 G965 1. CPU LGA 775 core 2 DUO LGA 775 core 2 DUO LGA 775 core 2 DUO 2. CPU Front Side Bus (FSB) 1066/800/553 MHz 1066/800/553 MHz 1066/800/553 MHz 3. Memory Type Dual-Channel DDR2667/533 Dual-Channel DDR2667/533 Dual-Channel DDR2667/533 4. Intel Flex Memory Technology YES YES YES 5. External Graphics PCI Express X16 PCI Express X16 PCI Express X16 6. Audio Support High definition Audio High definition Audio High definition Audio 7. Integrated Graphics GMA 3000 NO GMA X 3000 8. Maximum Memory Capacity 8 GB 8 GB 8 GB 9. I/O Controller hub ICH78 Family ICH78 Family ICH78 Family 10. Memory Speed 667/533 MHz 800/667/533 MHz 800/667/533 MHz (i) P965 p965 chipset is mainly designed by emphasizing the needs of home users. It has improvised features like memory performance, power efficiency. data protection and system responsiveness. (ii)G965 G965 chipset was introduced specially for the digital home which makes use of intel’s VIIV platform. It supports the most advanced integrated graphics module GMA 3000 series (iii) Q965 0965 chipset was specially designed for business users. It works under vpro platform. It incorporates the integrated graphics module GMA 3000 and supports the usage of discreet add-on video cards. (iv) Q963 chipset is a lower-end chipset in the 96 X family. It includes most of the features of (0965 but does not support the installation of the video cards. Hardware