What are the two key chips or chipsets on a motherboard?
Outside of the CPU and the memory, the two main chips on the
motherboard are the Northbridge and the Southbridge. Traditionally,
the Northbridge contained the AGP controller, the memory
controller, and the bus to the CPU. It is also connected to the
Southbridge which is connected to the peripheral bus, the BIOS, the
front panel, the keyboard, sound, and the hard drive controller. So
functionally speaking, the Northbridge is closest to the CPU and
the memory, and the Southbridge is closest to the user.