Explaining Motherboard Chipsets

[@ExplainingComputers]

As some of you have noticed, in the Intel diagram from about 06:25 to 07:32, the two labels connected to the processor at the top left should be labelled "x16 PCIe 5.0" and "x4 PCIe 4.0", (not PCI as they appear). My apologies. Somehow, regardless of how many times I check things, an error insists on creeping through! :( The audio correctly describes them as PCIe, as would also be inferred from the previous generic Intel schematic.

[@bertblankenstein3738]

I am sure we all knew it would only make sense as PCIe. I'm not a KZbin creator, but maybe do one of those text overlays? Thank you for the video. Informative as always.

[@Reziac]

There's another spot where the graphic says something like " 5 x PCIe" that I couldn't figure out, but eventually decided must be inverted. But no worries, the whole most excellently explains the chipset system, and I had a moment of enlightenment about how it is that performance has so radically increased in recent systems.

[@jamesallen74]

Was just about to mention this but good catch. Great video yet again, thank you.

[@mlong5666]

Great video with your perfectly clear explanations, as always. Thanks Chris for providing great content!

[@ExplainingComputers]

@@mlong5666 Thanks Mike.

[@WalterW]

A+ study guides should be written this way. Clear, concise and retainable.

[@SIPEROTH]

This guy is saying good things but he talks a little like a professor in class that makes you feel you want to sleep or talk to the person next to you.

[@user-vp1sc7tt4m]

@@SIPEROTH Not if you are curious and truly interested in the content. I was fully engaged the whole video but I am not saying you should be. My Dad use to say I had selective attention and memory. Yup, I sure did, and I still do now. I fall asleep during many conversations!

[@shershahvazery153]

Exactly, I read the book and wasn't sure what it was talking about until I watched this video.

[@rogerkoh1979]

When getting a motherboard, it is important to check if chipset support the CPU you are buying. Good explanation.

[@6581punk]

Or more importantly with AMD, that the motherboard BIOS it ships with supports your CPU out of the box. If not then you'll have to use a cheaper CPU to boot it, do the BIOS update and then fit your intended CPU.

[@rcso2010]

And check the right memory for your MoBo.

[@DJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJA]

@@6581punk AMD (at least used to) will send you a chip for free to do this very thing. Thought I might have had to do it for my last build, but luckily it just worked.

[@ThePacLp]

@@DJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJA It could also be the case, that your motherboard will support a BIOS upgrade without inserting a cpu. Vandors like Gigabyte call this feature "q flash plus" .

[@ST-IV_858]

I’m struggling with a Blank Lenovo T440 Factory with windows 8pro. It came with no OS. I’ve been trying to USB boot Win10, with no success due to the bios not enabling the device to run on in the Boot menu in BIOS. I just need a no strong machine for Archiving Databases, and reliability for downloading onto External Storage devices. This is not easily done with just an IPhone as alternate device. What am I missing here?

[@YippeePlopFork]

My daughters friend wants to pursue a career in computers - he isn't sure in what capacity yet, he's only 11 but very keen! - and I have sat with him through several of your tutorials. Thank you for your educational material Christopher, his interest - and enthusiasm - have grown considerably and you present the information in a way that is perfect for people - young and old - who want the facts without fluff. I appear to have picked up some additional dad points too!

[@wskinnyodden]

Well, I have started building and repairing computers shortly after turning 12, during Christmas holidays that year. At age 16 I got my first network going, Novell NetWare 3.12 back then. At age 18 I won the contract to build my Highschools computer network (and learned not to listen to customers cabling choices due to aesthetics, it worked but only at 10Mbps and poorly instead of 100Mbps properly like the rest of the network where my choice was the law). So, my advice is, get him to work part time on a small to medium computer shop where they let him work hands on AND make sure to force him to finish highschool and make sure to have him on a related course (I ended in Electronics, Microelectronics, Electricity, Communications and Industrial Automation technical course due to the Ministry of Education budget cuts removing the course I applied to, Computing and Programming, but I have to say that the electronics background really helped me more than I ever thought, though I only noticed or took advantage of much latter, which is partly why I never went to university and focused on working and making money, make sure he has a course he can work hands on and use straight away)

[@wskinnyodden]

And give him programming books regarding C, C++ and also provide him with books on Algorithms. Have him make an analogue clock (will need trigonometry and all of it, me deciding I had to do one resulted in my Maths Trigonometry test having my highest grade ever without studying for the test, well what you'd call study that is, using trig's as in depth as that forced me to really did the job way better than any conventional studying. Same thing for statistics, I wanted to make a. Installation program, so I needed a progress bar and we didn't have objects doing everything for you back then meaning not only I had to draw the progress bar I had to handle the maths, result I derived the formula to calculate percentages with a variable number of elements without ever studying statistics which were actually the first thing on the menu on my next year of maths. During the first week I found myself looking at the board and thinking, shit I know that formula... It was the same I had come to when doing my stuff hehehe. My only regret was not combining programming and my school studies more often, specifically anything involving mathematics and physics. Give the kid some legs with the programming books, then challenge him with school stuff being implemented on software by him. He'll be studying and learning willingly and happily without even noticing! He won't need to cram ANY topic he does a program for using the formulas and knowledge gathered from school lessons. He will know it by heart when the time comes to have an exam.

[@catsspat]

Show the young man some videos from Asianometry channel, involving semiconductor manufacturing stuff (ASML, Zeiss, ...). Maybe it's a bit early for that, but who knows?

[@tasmedic]

Chris, this would have been incredibly difficult to get my head around if it wasn't for those lovely graphics which you must have spent hours on! Thanks

[@peterthecoderd.1210]

I used to build and sell computers for years. I knew you needed a "good" chipset, but had no idea of what you explained here. I just accepted the word of my suppliers. Thanks!

[@PrinceAlberts]

I was just trying to sort out what I needed to buy in order to build my first gaming PC in almost 20 years. I was trying to sort out what Ryzen 3000 or 500 or X470 all meant. I just about gave up and went Intel for the simple fact that I understood their naming scheme. Thank you for this, now I can actually go in with a little more understanding and choose the processor and chipset that make the most sense for me.

[@akirafan28]

Almost the same situation as I were in. Built my first in '03/'04, my 2nd in '20. I went with AMD. Looking at building my first server(NAS), and trying to catch up on Intel's Core series CPU and mobo naming scheme 🤯. Having a bit of hard time trying to figure out which lake-series fit which socket and chipset - in hopes finding a cheap solution to my needs.

[@lastinline1958]

Excellent concretization of a concept I only vaguely comprehended previously. These videos continue to interest me, even though I can only partially understand them.

[@jay-gi9dk]

just takes time and experience

[@Aliens4ever117]

I'm currently taking a college Computer Tech Supp course and just reading a text book trying to understand chipsets and how they match wihlth the CPU and mobo, this made it so much easier!! I spent 7 hours last night after 8hours of work doing this...

[@ExplainingComputers]

Good luck with your course. :)

[@Antti_Nannimus]

This is another superb and essential entry into the estimable corpus of your fundamental Explaining Computers video series. Everybody benefits by this knowledge when trying to make a computer buying decision. But especially anybody who is trying to design their own do-it-yourself personal computer configuration will benefit greatly by understanding these basic architecture choices. All the permanent functional capabilities are constrained by this choice. Thank you once again, Dr. Barnatt!

[@xpmon]

This is extremely helpful, I've never given much thought to these chipsets I've literally just searched for a motherboard with the right socket and the right connections I need

[@dddonehoo7]

You are the sole reason I know/care anything about hardware, as an OS/software nerd. You just make it so easy to follow and produce it so well yet simple and elegant.

[@jonathanmaybury5698]

Thanks for this video, Chris. For a long time, I have been waiting for someone to show me the difference between a Z motherboard and a B motherboard this was a brilliant video and well worth watching again as a reminder, I wish there were more videos like this one, it explained so much I needed to know about the in's and outs of a computer,

[@brentbraganza5191]

Chris, we need more channels like yours that prove learning technology can be fun in itself without all the unnecessary gimmicks. Cheers to you.

[@praveenk9083]

I am from India & iam in rural area... I am interested to know about computers from my childhood... I have watched many of your computer explaining videos... The way of your explanation and your msg conveying is really excellent👏👏 keep doing it in your way... & thanks for all of your videos... You means a lot 😊😊

[@RoyNeeraye]

The animations in the first part of the video were simply awesome! Thanks again for yet another instructive and entertaining episode

[@ExplainingComputers]

Many thanks.

[@klaxoncow]

@@ExplainingComputers Do you make these 3D animations yourself? Just wondering if you're modelling these components yourself, or maybe you can get models of these things online? Because it's actually quite detailed with all the pins and holes, and even some little resistors (?) on the RAM and NVMe. Nice. Also, I like the reflections. Especially on the motherboard itself, where you can see, from the reflections, that it's not a flat surface but has loads of tiny dimples on it.

[@ExplainingComputers]

@@klaxoncow I do indeed make the animations myself, and here its all geometry (rather than some of the detail being in texture maps). So the PCIe slots and RAM slots contain a lot of polygons! It is possible to purchase stock 3D models online, and I have done so in the past for some components. But I've never been happy with the quality of the modelling when it comes to PC parts, so everything in this video (and indeed in the EC title sequence) has been modelled myself.

[@klaxoncow]

@@ExplainingComputers I'm suitably impressed, then. Granted, it's all geometric shapes, when it comes to these connectors. But you do have an attention to detail there - actually modelling it properly, with geometry, not just some texture map to "fake" where the holes should be - that I do appreciate. It's also a nice and crisp render too. Do you use Blender or something else?

[@ExplainingComputers]

@@klaxoncow Everything is modelled and rendered in LightWave 3D. If starting out today I would choose Blender. But it did not exist when I started using LightWave in the early 1990s.

[@picassojeus6114]

Such lucidity and simplicity in the explanation is a mark of your erudition Christopher. I express my gratitude to you as appreciation for your work. Bravo!!!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for your kind feedback, most appreciated. :)

[@chaslinux]

This video reminded me why you're going to hit that 1M subscribers mark. Especially appreciated that you started talking newer chipsets, but also covered older chipsets. Thanks for another excellent video.

[@watsoft70]

No longer confusing! Thanks for making it all so clear and also explaining what Northbridge and Southbridge meant...I was too lazy to look it up myself. Usual excellent presentation.

[@jd7ub]

Wow!! This is the best video on the internet explaining motherboards. Very clear and straight to the point

[@sbc_tinkerer]

An actual Explaining Computers explaining computers video. Back to basics. Well done, as usual!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Yes, you are correct. A "real" explaining computers video this week! :)

[@nicholasroberts6954]

Super one Chris ! With the manufacturer information (Processor, chipset, memory, motherboard, add-on boards) that's published on the web nowadays, ordinary bods i.e. non-enthusiasts should, if they wish, have no difficultly checking compatibility between components, purchasing same and building their own custom computer - its a breeze compared with 30 years ago. Build times then could range up to several days, when in a component information desert that existed then, hours could be spent altering settings on just one board (Via jumpers) to make components behave properly with one another. And that was before you loaded any software. Nowadays you can comfortably get a system up and running in half a day

[@chuckmuckamuck8001]

A channel named Explaining Computers literally explaining computers and doing it very well. Thanks!

[@neilphilip2320]

I asked on another thread what determines or limits PC performance - and then I found this video which answers all my questions! Really helpful for planning my next PC - thankyou!!!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for watching. :)

[@IanSlothieRolfe]

Thanksfor this. The last time I knew anything about PC architecture is was 2015 and I was building an AMD FX4 based system, so much has changed in the last 7 years!

[@scottcupp8129]

Oh man. It sure has!

[@TheBuilder]

This is genuinely useful information I never considered reading up on

[@orleydoss3171]

I've been watching too long, missed the "Lets go take a closer look" line 😆 as always nicely done 👍!

[@idowebwork]

It's truly a gift to take a complex (or at least seemingly complex) topic and break it down so that more people can truly grasp it. Thanks again for another amazing video which does just that.

[@roelfbackus]

Nice animations, especially the M.2 screw fastening.

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

When I need a valuable academic explanation I enjoy watching ExplainingComputers :) Thank you so much

[@sphesihlehlatshwayo-pn3zb]

HOW I WISH A+COMPIA GUIDE WAS WRITTEN THIS WAY,SIMPLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE

[@petrolhead0387]

Honestly, I have watched so many different tech channels, and none of them have actually explained the chip set like this.

[@tunkunrunk]

Sir , your video is the best ever !! easy to understand even for me whom English isn't my native language , I speak French . I have been building computers since early 2003 , and now starting learning servicing motherboards , but I didn't know the purpose of Chipsets . Thank you !!! 👍👍👍

[@martinwilkinson2344]

Another cracking, informative video filling in details on all those things you know exist but never really had the time or inclination to dig into.

[@TrapShooter68]

One of your best, most useful videos for us mere mortals planning to spec out our new desktop. Thank you!

[@YounesLayachi]

This the mother of all explaining computers videos xD

[@matthewfrauzeloriginalchri2538]

Just general comment..thank you,thank you so so much. You are the best at explaining complicated things like cloneing...partions..what upgrades i need ...simply put my friend. You have helped me when others on here could not. You must be a natural teacher. Cheers🙂 Matthew (aka Dene Frauzen on you tube).

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks Matthew, your kind feedback is appreciated. :)

[@philipsmith1990]

The frightening thing about this excellent video is that even after an explanation that makes the schemes a lot clearer it is still very complicated. But thank you for making my current search for my next desktop PC a lot easier.

[@danlscan]

Awesome presentation! I'm not new to building computer systems but failed to learn explicitly about the chip class designations until now. Very handy when shopping. Thanks.

[@noobinator9854]

This was a much needed video on modern motherboard chipsets. Thanks!

[@jasondrummond9451]

This video turned on the lights for me - the word 'chipset' now has real meaning for me.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Great to hear! My work is done.

[@piconano]

Today's motherboards are so beautiful and colorful. Work of art really.

[@ricodegeus1210]

Nice graphics today! I do think most people watching this already new all this, but its still fun to watch

[@jbennett8000]

A fantastically concise yet well-explained video. Thank you!

[@troyaustin2207]

Oh Man What a Great Explaining Video Chris. As Previous Comments Noted, simply Brilliant Graphics and Clear and Concise Voice over just Fantastic Thankyou so Very Much.

[@marksterling8286]

Great video, very clear explanation of the chipset setup. It’s quite amazing how motherboard have evolved over the years yet based on the same principles.

[@NewAgeDIY]

Hi Chris, I see the classroom is all setup and ready for today’s lesson! I have my notebook out and ready to take some notes, so let’s get started! 📝👨‍🏫

[@LiRaye]

This reminds me have to do more research before buying a laptop. It rings the bell when building desktop PC but easily neglected for laptops

[@dfpolitowski2]

As a typical consumer, Its got to the point where I have no need for more power in my pc. The last slow thing was internet access now that's largely gone. It took while to get to this point but I'm glad we're here. And yes I am aware greater speeds and more storage space in industry or out there in the cloud will always be needed.

[@ExplainingComputers]

I agree. For most applications, most of the time, most PCs will do the job now.

[@ristopoho824]

According to the like button already being pressed, i have seen this video already? Since i have no memory of what the chipsets do, here i am again. Also thank you for being clear and understandable on these topics, i often direct people to your channel if they want to know about these things.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for watching. :)

[@MicrobyteAlan]

Thanks for explaining computers. Great presentation. 👍

[@ExplainingComputers]

Greetings on another Sunday. :)

[@MicrobyteAlan]

It’s part of my Sunday morning ritual. ☕️ 🥯 & EC 😊

[@shershahvazery153]

Finally understood what is a chipset ❤ . Thanks for your hard work. Great content.❤

[@DJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJA]

Great video, learnt a few nuggets there. Never occurred to me the random motherboard names actually meant something.

[@UziRyder1]

Clear, concise, accurate and informative as always. Thanks.

[@derekgliddon]

Fantastic video Chris. Very clear. Your videos are clearly the result of deep knowledge and a lot of research and production work. Well done and thanks (from Abu Dhabi).

[@ExplainingComputers]

Much appreciated!

[@alanthornton3530]

I didn't know anything about chipsets or how important they are for the motherboard to function, as long as everything worked all was well with the world. Thank you for the informative video, I continue to learn more every Sunday, loved the graphics to. :)

[@dnoodspodu1159]

00:48 Nice diffused mirror / shadow effect on that brick red surface

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks. :)

[@babycool6118]

Thankyou sir I was waiting for this since months I loved the video and you cleared all of my doubt. love from India ❤

[@harishsinghbhoj9692]

Thank you for bringing this video Chris ...much needed

[@tech_jims]

Some a320 mb will support ryzen 3000 with bios upgrade 🙂 thanks for detailed explanation 👍 great video chris

[@ExplainingComputers]

No problem 👍

[@joecrak249]

THIS IS MY GUYYYYY so happy I have found this channel thank you for all the knowledge and information provide for the community

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for watching. :)

[@121Pal]

…another great video Chris!…the often overlooked, forgotten chipset - thanks for bringing it the rightful attention it deserves!…

[@sid_gm1949]

Nice, now this video goes to my pc building idea playlist.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Excellent!

[@trainmaster0217]

I wish I could hit the "like" button a hundred times as I enjoy your videos so much. You are a great teacher. Glad to have you aboard. Thank you Chris.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks!

[@mikiethebikie]

Thanks so much Chris, this is something I don’t generally think about. I plan to build a new desktop later this year: this presentation is therefore timely. 🙏

[@paulpvhl1930]

I ignored this when it came out, but what a great overview! Thanks as always.

[@ridefast0]

Hard to believe, but it is now 3 years since I copied your 'Budget PC build' using an early Ryzen APU. I was delighted when AMD announced that the B450 chipset would support Ryzen 5000 series, and I have upgraded the BIOS and fitted a 5950X (and an AMD 580 graphics card) which works fine for video rendering. Thanks for considering the AM4 upgrade path in your original plans, and thanks to AMD for stretching the life of AM4 socket for so many generations of CPU/APU.

[@ExplainingComputers]

This is great to hear -- and I cannot believe it started 3 years ago! :)

[@Reziac]

Oh, how I hated those ALi and VIA chipsets from days of yore... Good presentation, makes clear how it fits together. And now I understand why certain components tend to fail in a clump, eg. onboard NIC and USB are likely to fail together. (Anyone else experienced the Asus USB disease??)

[@ExplainingComputers]

I have experienced NIC and USB failure together -- and worse, intermittent failure together.

[@Colin_Ames]

Another excellent video, with very useful information. Thanks Chris.

[@XindiMagic]

I like to think I am quite knowledgeable on the subject of computers but I always learn something new after watching one of your videos. Thank you for the great content.

[@VulcanOnWheels]

I love the animation at the start of this video, even if I did miss the connections between the devices.

[@ExplainingComputers]

The connections would have been a nightmare! :)

[@ptzzz]

This was pretty well done and clearly explained. That reflections on that 3D render of a motherboard made me wow on the amount of effort you put for a small segment of the video. If only school lectures were all like your videos Chris as they are easy to understand haha. The Intel chipsets (and those for Ryzen 5000) were new knowledge to me as I haven't been following on the new tech lately. When I bought the motherboard for my current pc (Ryzen 5 2600 and B350) I should have spent a bit more on the motherboard because while it works for most things, it fails hard on detecting my USB game controller and only works for a little bit once every power cycle.

[@scottcupp8129]

I literally just built another computer. This is a great video as always. My older computer that I built back in 2015 is running very strong as well. it is built on the Asus P6TD deluxe motherboard. No problems at all with it. Still a great machine!

[@Reziac]

Does the P6TD have solid capacitors? I've had two P5B (and two previous generation of the same lineage) fail the same way -- old-type capacitors that support the southbridge fail (reportedly due to a voltage problem) and then USB goes intermittent and finally quits, even tho the whole rest of the board still works fine. (My X79 has solid caps so hopefully won't have the problem.)

[@scottcupp8129]

@@Reziac They are solid capacitors, yes

[@Reziac]

@@scottcupp8129 Oh good! hopefully will last a good many more years.

[@scottcupp8129]

@@Reziac Absolutely. It has been a great one. I hope so as well.

[@cliffterpher]

A truly wonderful presentation, Chris!

[@smartassist9700]

Amazing! Thank you for the dive into chips. I did not know most of it before. Working as sales at IBM I got the performance tech info of new v/s old and different ways new chip managed work flow. EMENSE THANK YOU!

[@KonfusedKris]

Really clear explanation of a complex topic - thanks!

[@MrMoonpie001]

Thanks Chris, very important and critical part of understanding CPUs especially those who want to upgrade or build their own. It all starts with the motherboard and chipset that has to work with the CPU. Moonpie aka Rich

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks Rich, I hope that all is well with you.

[@gaptastic]

Excellent video for a device we all take for granted!

[@AFCbailey]

Thank you so much for this clearly presented and wonderfully informative video. Turns out I absolutely do not need a Z690 chipset!

[@fairhall001]

Thank you for working the explanation of the chip sets into an easy to understand video. I don't think I have ever heard an explanation of the chips sets and their relation to the cpu that is so easy to understand. Maybe a little to explain how the bios and chip sets are related would have been helpful.

[@MrCardeso]

Great video! I will have to watch it a couple more times to internalize all this information.

[@lawrenceallwright7041]

Excellent presentation and crystal clear. As always, of course.

[@treyquattro]

I agree: the chipsets are a work of art and engineering brilliance. It's amazing that Intel sells it's new Z690 for only $51 (in large quantities, to motherboard manufacturers, e.g.) They're a significant part of making modern desktop computers operate at speeds that were once reserved for supercomputers

[@storetrollet404]

Very good explained. And jolly good graphics! Great job - Thank You!

[@diogenes_of_sinope]

As always very good, accurate and highly professional explanation, thank you very much for your efforts!

[@Betonoszlop]

Felt myself in school again, cheers

[@MichelMorinMontreal]

Thanks for a great and devilishly informative presentation (again!). Congratulations on the design; the container is as excellent as the content!

[@srtcsb]

Thanks for another great video Chris. This one has a lot to cover, so I'll be watching it a couple more times, at least. I do miss the days when CPU’s and motherboards were simpler to choose from.🙂

[@Wild_Cat]

Thanks for the info, very informative

[@KremsonKhan]

As an average joe in computing world, I completly understood this and its a very nice video thanks!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for watching. :)

[@tonysheerness2427]

It is nice to hear 'Z' pronounced as ZED. In American pronunciation it is hard to distinguish between 'Z' and 'C' if you have a series of digits cczcc or zzczz they all sound the same. The chipset looks very much like an Input Output processor looking after all the IO leaving the CPU to number crunch with out interruptions.

[@ElmerFuddGun]

That's why amateur radio (ham) operators, pilots, etc. say _zed_ instead of _zee_ world wide including the USA. Much easier to understand over a radio with any noise. Most initial radio contacts actually use a standardized phonetic alphabet that helps prevent errors.

[@samyabdelm7895]

again, amazing video lots of detailed info which was unbelievably useful and refreshing to the mind, when you think you know a lot there's always more to learn...I thank you very much for all the work you've been doing here, I'm a huge fan of this channel may god bless you and help you make more of these great videos.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for your kind feedback. :)

[@candycanemiscreant9615]

very good video, which provides important information with clear diagrams. this has helped a lot in understanding chipset compatibility.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for your kind feedback. :)

[@Praxibetel-Ix]

Good morning yet again from the US! Thanks for another great "Explaining ___" video. ❤️

[@andic6676]

Really great and informative video Chris!

[@chriholt]

Thanks for the crystal clear explanation Chris.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Greetings Chris. :)

[@Lets-Drone-With-Bone]

Another excellent video, a great refresher on chipsets, they have always confused the hell out of me .

[@Waifu4Life]

Drinking game: Take a shot every time your hear the word "Chipset".

[@Plons0Nard]

You put a lot of work in this presentation ! Cheers

[@KenTek88]

This is a great explanation for these modern chipset, thank you for this great video👏🏼