After CPU North Bridge is the core chipset on the computer
motherboard that controls data communication between CPU and Motherboard. It
runs at full processor speed. It mainly works as Memory controller and System
Controller. It incorporates interface between Processor and rest of motherboard
components.
Chipset is actually numbered according to the number of North
Bridge. Nvidia GeForce 320M is a Northbridge /Southbridge fabrication in a
single chip. Following are some major functions that are performed by the North
Bridge:
Processor Support: Chipset is the major decider on
the motherboard that decides which processor is supported, of what speed and
how many processors are supported? Following areas are covered by North Bridge
under this:
CPU Interface Socket Type: North Bridge is
interfaced with the processor through host processor bus and CPU socket. No. of
processor sockets are available in the market for this purpose such as Socket
7,Socket -1, Socket A etc. This socket number is decider that which particular
Processor class is supported on that motherboard.
Max. Speed of Processor: North Bridge works as
speed controller for CPU. It Consists of Cache and main memory controller.
North Bridge provides necessary interface with FSB (Front Side Bus) and PCI –Southbridge.
Processor speed is dependent on FSB speed and clock multiplier.
Multiple Processor Support: Northbridge
Provides the feature of using 2 or more processors on the same motherboard. It
Controls both processors so that they do not interfere with each other and
maximum efficiency can be obtained by sharing load.
L2 Cache Support: North Bridge contains the L2 (Level 2) Cache control
circuitry. Following Functions are covered by this circuitry:
L2 Cache Size: Level2 Cache size is decided by the North Bridge. It may
be 256 KB, 512KB or 3 MB. It is actually a buffer that contains recently
accessed data by the processor that works at greater speed than main memory and
is used to improve performance.
L2 Cache Type: Three types of L2 caches are used namely Asynchronous, Synchronous Burst and Pipeline
Burst. All uses different circuitry for its interface hence it’s important
to know that whether it is supported with North bridge or not.
L2 Cache Write Policy: Two types of
write policies are used i.e. Write-Through, Write-Back. In write-Through memory
writes are sent to main memory and cache as soon as the processor sends out
information. But in case of Write-Back processor writes information to cache
which is later written to main memory at appropriate time.
System
Cacheable Memory: Memory Controller Circuitry, Chipset Cache and Tag RAM on the
motherboard are major decider of memory that a system can cache.
Main Memory Support: Main memory is connected to
the Processor by means of North Bridge. Hence it is decided by the North Bridge
that what type of main memory and of what speed is supported. Memory read write operations are
controlled by chipset. Hence Chipset decides which memory will be more
compatible such as FPM, EDO, SDRAM or DDR RAM etc.
Max. Main Memory Size: Northbridge is the major decider of maximum memory
that a processor can support. It performs the function of translating
Processor’s requests for instructions and data into addresses.
AGP Support: North Bridge provides an interface
between AGP bus and Processor bus. Due to this functionality of North Bridge it
sometimes also referred to as PAC (PCI/AGP Controller).
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