Alternatively called the PAC (PCI/AGP Controller) and nb, the Northbridge is an integrated circuit responsible for communications between the CPU interface, AGP, and the memory. Unlike the southbridge, the northbridge is directly connected to these components. It acts as a "bridge" for the southbridge chip to communicate with the CPU, RAM, and graphics controller. Today, the northbridge is a single-chip that is north of the PCI bus, however, early computers may have had up to three separate chips that made up the northbridge.
Below is a graphic illustration of the ASUS P5AD2-E motherboard and labels for each component of the motherboard, including the northbridge. As shown, the northbridge and southbridge commonly have a dedicated heat sink. Also, the northbridge is usually slightly larger than the southbridge, and is positioned closer to the CPU and memory.
When the CPU needs data from RAM, a request is sent to the northbridge memory controller. After the request is received, the northbridge responds with how long the processor needs to wait to read memory over the front-side bus. Some newer motherboards have replaced the northbridge and the southbridge with IHA.
My motherboard doesn't have a northbridge-
As manufacturers look for new ways to improve performance and reduce cost, they are moving functions of the northbridge chip to other CPU components including the southbridge. Beginning with the AMD64 AMD and the Intel Nehalem processors the memory controller was moved from the northbridge to the processor die. Later, the Intel "Sandy Bridge" and the AMD Accelerated Processing Unit processors placed all northbridge functions onto the CPU.
Standout-
Sometimes called a standoff and spacer, standouts are small metal or plastic screws that attach to a computer case and hold the motherboard in place. The picture helps give an example of a standout. In this picture, the left standout has a screw inserted in the hole to help demonstrate how it works. The motherboard would be placed between the standout and the screw.
Standouts also help keep a motherboard from touching the computer case. If the motherboard, specifically the solder points or other metal pieces touches the metal computer case, it can cause a short to occur in the motherboard. A short can cause the computer to not start up or it can cause damage to the motherboard. Using standouts is critical to prevent shorts from occurring and preventing damage to the motherboard.
Inserting a standout-
First, screw the standout into your computer chassis. With the standouts in place, place the motherboard on the standouts and insert the screw through the motherboard screw hole into the standout.
Sometimes called a standoff and spacer, standouts are small metal or plastic screws that attach to a computer case and hold the motherboard in place. The picture helps give an example of a standout. In this picture, the left standout has a screw inserted in the hole to help demonstrate how it works. The motherboard would be placed between the standout and the screw.
Standouts also help keep a motherboard from touching the computer case. If the motherboard, specifically the solder points or other metal pieces touches the metal computer case, it can cause a short to occur in the motherboard. A short can cause the computer to not start up or it can cause damage to the motherboard. Using standouts is critical to prevent shorts from occurring and preventing damage to the motherboard.
Inserting a standout-
First, screw the standout into your computer chassis. With the standouts in place, place the motherboard on the standouts and insert the screw through the motherboard screw hole into the standout.
Motherboard mounting screw hole-
The picture shows an example of what a screw hole aka mounting hole would look like on the corner of a motherboard. Each motherboard has several holes to help hold the motherboard securely in place. Often the screw holes can be easily identified because they'll have metal surrounding each hole. Some earlier motherboards may also have holes without metal surrounding the hole. For these types of holes, the motherboard should have included a cardboard or paper washer to place between the screws and motherboard.
No comments:
Post a Comment