Could someone pls tell me what does chipsets have to do with mobo’s??

Like u have i875p, i845pe, sis655, etc…how do they affect the performance of the motherboard?

Also, when selecting a processor for a mobo, if the socket and FSB’s of both components match would that mean the processor will work fine with that mobo or does one need to look at other specs too?

Not completely true. Compare the nVidia nForce3 150 to the nForce3 250 chipsets with the dual-channel socket 940 CPUs. The 150 only implements an 8-bit uplink on the HyperTransport bus while the 250 (and other A64 chipsets) support 16-bit width up and down. This didn’t matter with the single-channel systems, but there is a performance impact on the dual-channel ones.

Otherwise, I agree. 

Yeah, it’s not necessarily straightforward. There are various chipsets on motherboards and that can vary by which features the motherboard has and who they source their chips from.

In a traditional PCs, there are two main chipsets, the northbridge and the southbridge. The northbridge normally contains a memory controller that talks with the memory, an AGP connector, and a link to the southbridge. The southbridge can contain integrate stuff like audio, networking, serial connections, IDE connections, etc. and talks with the PCI bus.

Athlon 64 systems use a slightly different setup since the memory controller (typically found in the northbridge) is integrated into the CPU itself. This increases the bandwidth and lowers the latency. So, these systems don’t have a traditional northbridge but still have the southbridge.

So, different chipset companies may add extra features to their “chipsets” to make them more interesting. Some mobo manufacturers may use different north and south bridge chipsets depending on what they’re trying to offer. Some brands offer better performance, more features, or integrated options (like sound/video). Other brands may skimp on the frivolous stuff and just offer a no-features but very stable board.

So, it does normally make some sort of difference in which chipset you get. So, it pays to research this stuff before buying especially since there’s so many different brands and models.

Wow, there’s an education in here all by itself.  For guys like me who are not a geek for a living, I could learn a lot on this thread.

More, More!

Thanks guys for the comments

now could someone answer my last question too…

When selecting a processor for a mobo, if the socket and FSB’s of both components match would that mean the processor will work fine with that mobo or does one need to look at other specs too?

Thanks a bunch for your response…

The mobo I’m thinking of buying is the AOpen AX4C Max II which supports FSB’s of 400, 533 and 800 MHz and the processor I’m thinking of getting is the Intel P4 3.2E Ghz which has an FSB of 800 Mhz (and I guess thats the fastest as of now).  This mobo looks pretty new so I dont think power would be any problems for it….please take a look at it and I would love to know if you concur with my choice or could suggest something better.

Myself, I’d rather go with an Athlon 64 3200+ and an MSI K8N Neo mobo, but I’m more of an AMD kind of guy. That will give you a bit more speed than the Intel. If you’re willing to put down a couple hundred more, the Athlon 64 3500+ (socket-939) CPU is worth looking at too.

Thanks Drachen, but I’ll probably go in with the Intel only :|

I’ve been using Intel all the while and dont want to change over…besides I’d heard at one time that Intel performs better than AMD for certain apps while for some AMD is better. As far as cooling goes, I know that video is quite old and AMD must have become better now, but I still cant forget that vid from tomshardware website…I’ve experienced it myself with my Intel processor…the fan got busted and always MS office used to hang and my father used to get angry at me for messing up things…afterwards I realised it was the fan at fault. If I had AMD at the time, I would have to get a new one…

u could just call it loyalty that I would like to stay on with Intel. 

The main reason for the upgrade is the ATI Radeon X800 XT card so if there’s no AGP there’s no way I’m wasting my time with that new chipset. I’m also planning on getting 1 gig of PC3200 RAM besides the processor and motherboard that I’ve already mentioned above. The Processor I’m using is a Prescott CPU…the Intel P4 3.2e ghz. Please look at these things again and tell me if they’ll function fine together.

Also, you’re slightly mistaken about the PCI express thing..since the motherboard that I’m getting is based on the i875P Chipset but does support PCI express.

Here’s a review of the AX4C Max II motherboard. Read where they’ve mentioned Hercules PCI

Hercules PCI:

The Hercules PCI slot (color coded blue) is a specially designed PCI slot with independent 3.3V circuitry.  This allows for less variance in the voltage signal of the PCI slot, which can translate to increased stability/precision for the card that occupies this slot.  This PCI slot is touted to provide 50% more voltage stability (680mV peak to peak compared to 1.32V peak to peak), and can be useful in certain environments (especially for data acquisition and audio editing).  This slot potentially can improve the stability of certain intolerant PCI cards during overclocking operations.  This definitely is a nice feature, however, most users will not have a need for the special features of this slot.

I hope thats what PCI Express means…if not sorry :oops:

I saw that review…I think I’ll still go in for the 3.2E since it’s almost the same price as the 3.2C and the fps in games does really depend on the graphics card and that should be no probs with Mr. X800 XT around (I placed my order for it yesterday although I dont return to US for another month…go too scared that the prices will get hiked…$458.18 :cry:  :cry: )

The reason why I’ve bought that card is to play flight sim 2004 and F1 2002. I’ve never liked games like Doom so won’t bother with that

I think you should re-consider on the P4 3.2E vs. 3.2C issue. The 3.2C chip is actually faster and it runs cooler than the 3.2E chip. Even though the 3.2E chip has a larger cache, it’s actually slower than its much more refined older brother. Newer doesn’t always mean better and this is one of those rounds where Intel has missed the boat.

Well, you do seem intent on your setup so best of luck with whatever you choose.

ok groovy, if the 2 of you suggest 3.2c I’ll go for that only…

Do you have ne recommendations for motherboards??...like I’m ok with spending around 160-180 bucks for it, or do u think the Aopen one is good?

Thanks,
Rahul

hmm, I’ll probably have to do some reading before deciding which one to buy. Did you read my post regarding the PCI express thing ?? It’s just before groovy’s post…please read it and let me know if the mobo does have pci express or not.

:oops:  :oops: oops…

I just looked in google, and it’s an AGP 8X replacement…that kind of sucks since now with this video card (which should be good enough for me for atleast 5 yrs) I cant upgrade to a new motherboard since they’ll remove AGP 8X from the newer ones which also limits my chances of upgrading the processor.