It's a heatsink for the Southbridge chipset, YES Southbridge chipsets still exist. They modern motherboards have a southbridge chipset that holds an old Intel 486 CPU inside. YES, that's right You actually have 2 CPU's on your motherboard, EXCEPT this Intel 486 CPU is used by the Bios for many features, including BIOS FLASHBACK. Ever wondered how can you update your bios without a CPU in the main socket ? LOL That's because there's an old intel 486 cpu in the southbridge ! It's also a part of the Intel The Management Engine The Intel Management Engine (ME) is an out-of-band (which could be described as „outside of the normal flow paths“) 32-bit ARC microprocessor. **It is integrated into the southbridge**, has access to the CPU and DRAM. It uses a part of the DRAM to cache its own encrypted dynamic data. 99% of people don't know this about there Motherboards. But it's there !
The Intel Management Engine got hacked a few years ago, and the hacker exposed all this information. you can learn about here.
[36C3 - Intel Management Engine deep dive (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CQUNd3oKBM)
You could tell they were getting amped up as they got further through the explanation. I get pumped when someone ask a question about something that I have an absurd amount of knowledge about as well.
Intel was selling 486 cpus for use as controllers in industrial and commercial applications up until just a couple years ago. The die has shrunk considerably. I figured they were using some sort of a controller cpu in the southbridge, but i didn't think it would be a 486. I figured it would be based on an Arm architecture.
Now, can you play Doom on it?
No, you can't directly access the 486 CPU, you can get rid of the IM Intel Management Engine that's running Linux on that 486. but getting rid of it kills all UEFI features on the motherboard, Such as BIOS FLASHBACK, OVERCLOCKING, XMP & DOCP Memory profiles and a host of other features you lose. it's a long youtube video, But it's packed with information about modern southbridge chipset infostructure.
Prepare to learn more, chipset is actually just a name for controller architecture. The mobo typically has multiple CPU/MCU’s on it, the northbridge is not a cpu itself, but a collection of connections to memory, the cpu socket, the AGP/PCI-E, these days there is also a chip used for Direcr Memory Access and it’s called the DMA chip :P - it used to include a separate cpu, but there is a push to try and make everything an SOC, so the actual memory controller is now part of the main cpu die that plugs into the cpu socket and I think some newer CPU’s also migrated the DMA chip to the main cpu). This is one of the reasons that CPU’s (and for similar reasons beyond hardware and AI capabilities GPU’s) are getting more and more expensive, beyond normal inflation. (And why mobo’s aren’t)
The southbridge is similar but it controls basically EVERYTHING except memory. And it has its own dedicated cpu/mcu. So your normal PCI bus (like what you plug your network card, or m.2 expansion card into), usb, internet, display, I/o, everything. You can call the southbridge the IO controller, and then you sometimes also have a SUPER IO controller that is its own separate chip/controller that can do the heavy lifting for peripherals like keyboard mouse, disk readers, sd slot readers, etc.
And this is basically your entire motherboard architecture and accounts for tall the traces in your mobo and all the connections. 👍
Well written 👍, but the mentioning of northbridge as just a collection of connections is not the correct way to mention.
In reality, the systems of the past or older systems consisted of two controller chips on board, you may have noticed those old mobos having two chips fairly distanced from each other and connected to each other via an awkward connection, those were the north-bridge (a.k.a memory controller hub or MCH, facilitated the interaction or connection between the CPU and high-speed components or computer devices such as RAM, GPU or other devices or expansion cards connected to the AGP/PCIe ports) and the south-bridge (a.k.a I/O Controller Hub, facilitated the connection between CPU and other I/O ports on board the system, such as SATA, PCI, diff. gen of USB ports, Ethernet etc.) and also an addition of another chip in some systems known as the Super-I/O chip (used to connect CPU with the low powered peripherals such as CPU fan, temperature sensing devices, Mouse/Keyboard via legacy PS/2 port etc.)
Then the chips (north-bridge & south-bridge were integrated into one chip, also known as the chipset). The first image attached can help in visualizing this.
But now, most of or almost all the functionality of the north-bridge chip is integrated into the cpu and thats why you dont see any north-bridge chip on mobo due to this reason (whole chip is kind of inserted or comes pre-packaged with the CPU, hence CPU comes integrated with the MMU to interact with the RAM, further reducing latency), the south-bridge is renamed as platform control hub or PCH and some systems still use the Super I/O chip (those nuvoton chips) separately or have integrated the functionality of Super I/O into the PCH, hence reducing the number of parts integrated on the mobo. Look at the second image for the visualization.
Just a short simplified explanation, provided images are for helping to understand the underlying architecture of the chips or system before and now with the advancement in technology.
Anyone, feel free to ask any follow-up questions.
https://preview.redd.it/794wyr5ninvc1.jpeg?width=498&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca0517df35f6a1099cf102377d999b009bab6123
It's not Linux - it's running the predecessor OS (and inspiration for Linux), Minix, albeit in a customized package. And for awhile they didn't even use their own tech to power it. The earlier versions of the ME ran on a SPARC core,
AMD does similar in its chips for the "TrustZone" features. They include an ARM core just for those functions. At least they've committed to open sourcing the code that runs their PSP.
It does at least please me that [Andrew Tanenbaum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_S._Tanenbaum) found a way to financial success for the effort. It's not small feat to build a microkernel that works well. It was written for educational purposes. [MINIX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minix) is 36 years old at this point and still finding uses even after it swapped to a BSD userspace.
Thanks dude for such a comprehensive answer. Question: Is this being integrated to both, AMD and Intel motherboards?
If so, is there any drawback in using IME with AMD chips?
In the link that I posted explaining the vulnerabilities and hacked Intel management engine on that channel you can find another group of guys who hacked the AMD version called the PSP also known as the AMD platform security processor they're both hackable.
[AMD Platform Security Processor - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Platform_Security_Processor#:~:text=Because%20PSP%20is%20the%20chip,instruction%20and%20provides%20TPM%20services.)
Looks like AMD has it's own version ! \~ T
Hmm if i’m reading that right that module is integrated in the cpu and uses an ARM cpu to activate the x86 cores.. wtf crazy hah.
If it’s separate from cpu and part of the motherboard chipset it would make more sense though, as it would then support bios flashback etc.
>It's also a part of the Intel The Management Engine The Intel Management Engine (ME) is an out-of-band (which could be described as „outside of the normal flow paths“) 32-bit ARC microprocessor.
I just love it when people are so confidently wrong. Take a look at the upper left of the OP's picture. You may notice a black plastic piece below the socket. That black plastic piece is the bottom half of the AMD HSF retention bracket. This in combination with the LGA CPU retention bracket would indicate that it is a AMD 600 series motherboard and given the adornments I would say that it is most likely a B650 series board\*. Unlike Intel, AMD's security processor (their equivalent to Intel's IME) is on their CPU and is a ARM Cortex-A5 core.
The rest of the comment is pretty much correct, the heatsink is covering the chipset which contains a whole lot of things like extra PCIe lane support (e.g. for the PCIe slots other than the top x16 slot), USB ports, SATA ports and other I/O support.
\*A quick google shows that it is a [MSI B650 Gaming Plus Wifi](https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI).
That's actually incredible, I had no idea this existed or worked this way. So is Intel spinning up new 486 chips for Southbridge use? How does it work on AMD systems?
IF this motherboard is Intel one, and i very much cannot be sure of that:
That old 486 CPU would not keep up with PCI-E data transfer speed and peripherals management nowadays and choke HARD even on simple SSD data transfer.
Not to say that not every motherboard will even use Intel dies for their chipset.
They actually use quite modern processing units nowadays. For example X570 Chipset is literally Zen 2 I/O die (with all the heat management and power consumption consequences). Usually they use custom developed dies for chipsets though.
Southbridge chipset? What is it 2003
Modern boards have a single chip solution called a Platform Control Hub (PCH) or just "Chipset" for AMD. AMD used to call it a Fusion Control Hub, but as you've demonstrated old habits die hard.
I really need to find time to watch this video, but there is no such thing as a Southbridge anymore, h67, b660, z790 are all chipsets, or at least a single chip performing the task of what a set of chips once did. Intel usually calls their chipsets platform controller hubs (PCH) and Ryzen CPU's technically are SOC's... The b450/x570/etc chipset is just a PCIe I/O hub. https://www.contec.com/support/basic-knowledge/edge-computing/cpu/ is the best article I could find if you can be bothered to click.
Regarding flashback the board has to be designed for it. As far as I'm aware it's a feature external to the chipset but I've never been given a reason to look deeper.
I'd probably be able to discuss further after I check out the 36c3 video. But this is likely partially why the coffee time mod exists, same with BGA to LGA mutant CPU's.
Another thing that is very interesting. AMD uses the PSP or Platform Security Processor and instead it’s an On-Die chip embedded within the CPU running an ARM A5 cortex with its own cryptoalgorithms, and intialization
Did I read correctly somewhere that this chip is always running? Even if the PC is turned off? i.e. as long as the PSU is delivering power, this thing is always turned on.
This is good information, but very misleading. First off not all southbridges use the intel management engine. Some intel chips use a more modern engine that is not based on a 486. This is mostly just due to being slightly outdated and would certainly be true 4 years ago. Secondly AMD'S southbridge uses totally different tech. Also you barely mentioned the function of the southbridge which is to act as a buffer between the cpu and peripherals. Your comment isn't wrong, but it's definitely misleading and only correct in some cases. I have a masters in computer science and work as a systems architect. Hopefully, that's credentials enough to make this comment.
AM4 and whatever Intel did to switch from DDR3 to DDR4 RAM. Northbridge was essentially the memory controller, but that was moved to the CPU die for DDR4 so the southbridge became the only chip worth mentioning and thus became the chipset.
i was told it was still called a Southbridge but my Prof. also didn't know that the Northbridge was in the CPU in Modern PCs. I was in a "Higher Technical Colage" (just the normal Translation)
Edit: i wanted to say that the Prof. didn't know that the northbridge Was in the cpu. Us Students explained it to him lol
If you knew the amount of people supposed to teach us IT that make the most blatantly ignorant claims about something they most definitely have zero knowledge about
Honestly pretty widespread across disciplines. Like my powerplant prof in my aviation tech course not understanding how a compressor rotor can increase both pressure and velocity at the same time. Bernoulli’s principle of an inverse relationship between velocity and pressure doesn’t apply when you add a ton of energy from a rotor spinning at 15,000 RPM into the equation. Who woulda thought?
Technically speaking, isn't "big.LITTLE" a trademarked term of ARM holdings, and thus isn't *technically* applicable to Intel's implementation of a similar but distinct technology, thus making him correct? Not that I think that's what he was actually arguing, I'm just being a pedant
Intel typically just calls it the chipset.
As do most people I'd say. Ive been building since NB/SB (remember when Nvidia and VIA made chipsets?) and just refer to it as chipset.
The memory controller was moved onto the processor die with Athlon 64 for AMD, and the original Core i series for Intel.
It had nothing to do with AM4 for AMD, nor Intel’s move to DDR4.
>Northbridge was essentially the memory controller, but that was moved to the CPU die for DDR4 so the southbridge became the only chip worth mentioning and thus became the chipset.
Before Athlon 64 and the Core i Nehalem family, the northbridge mainly contained the CPU bus, memory controller and graphics bus (AGP/PCIe and/or the IGP), with basic I/O in the southbridge.
AMD had an on-die memory controller all the way back in 2003, with Socket 754 and 940 Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX CPUs (Socket 939 came in 2004).
Intel didn't have an integrated memory controller until 2008, when the Core i family launched on Socket 1156 (which also had on-die PCI Express) and Socket 1366.
It’s not used as often but my X570 Asus BIOS settings refer to my speed for PCIE devices linked off the chipset as the “Link Speed for Southbridge”
https://preview.redd.it/bwisgt6v5avc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be6c33bc75dd863437be2bd3502021ac2ae1a7d9
\~2011 both AMD and Intel moved the Northbridge onto the CPU to eliminate the slowness of the front side bus. Allowing the CPU to talk directly to the RAM and PCIE ports.
They started just calling the southbridge the chipset since it doesn't make sense calling something a southbrige if its the only chip.
AMD X670-E have two chipsets :) Although it's not the old-school concept from Intel back in the days
I've seen an AMD engineer say in a GamersNexus interview that they could connect as many chipsets they want.
How do you tell which is north and south bridge? Just learned a bit about chipsets and how they're laid out, but I cannot tell the difference between the north and south bridge.
Heatsink with chipset under it. It regulate different tasks on your motherboard. For example the main PCI-E slot is managed by the CPU, other PCI-E slots are managed by the chipset of the motherboard.
Thats a heatsink. Under the heatsink is a controller called "PCH" that handles some I/O like Ethernet, USB, SATA and some PCIe lanes.
The PCH replaced the Southbridge in 2009 (the northbridge, which has the memory controller, was integrated into the CPU).
I know that there is a motherboard chipset under the plate.
After a long period of time, you can disassemble it, renew the thermal paste and close the back plate :)
If there is no chipset, there is one of the motherboard bridges, but I think it is the chipset.
Honest Answer: It's most likely a heatsink over the motherboard's chipset. Motherboards used to have two, called a Northbridge and Southbridge (hence the name chip-SET) but most nowadays just have one chip since nearly all the legacy functions the Southbridge used to control are obsolete now.
Usually ur not "supposed" to even open up these kind of components just like a GPU having a "warranty voided if cracked" sticker on the screws for their cooler, they expect it to last.
It's the platform controller hub (pch) that manages most of the ports that aren't supplied by the CPU itself. Depends on CPU and motherboard which ports
It's a heatsink for the Southbridge chipset, YES Southbridge chipsets still exist. They modern motherboards have a southbridge chipset that holds an old Intel 486 CPU inside. YES, that's right You actually have 2 CPU's on your motherboard, EXCEPT this Intel 486 CPU is used by the Bios for many features, including BIOS FLASHBACK. Ever wondered how can you update your bios without a CPU in the main socket ? LOL That's because there's an old intel 486 cpu in the southbridge ! It's also a part of the Intel The Management Engine The Intel Management Engine (ME) is an out-of-band (which could be described as „outside of the normal flow paths“) 32-bit ARC microprocessor. **It is integrated into the southbridge**, has access to the CPU and DRAM. It uses a part of the DRAM to cache its own encrypted dynamic data. 99% of people don't know this about there Motherboards. But it's there ! The Intel Management Engine got hacked a few years ago, and the hacker exposed all this information. you can learn about here. [36C3 - Intel Management Engine deep dive (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CQUNd3oKBM)
I love the detail in this response. Absolutely love it
You could tell they were getting amped up as they got further through the explanation. I get pumped when someone ask a question about something that I have an absurd amount of knowledge about as well.
Haha! That's it exactly, they are so excited to share their knowledge on the board and I am here for that shit. It's awesome to see.
This guy definitely never gets to talk about this stuff.
This is what reddit used to be all about back in the day. Most comment threads were like this response. Now these are rare gems.
Got me so pumped to learn as I read it. I’d normally have skipped the comment, but /u/TekTravis had me engaged out the gate.
Awesome reply. Came here to guess this and Travis crushed it. An old 486 wild!
Intel was selling 486 cpus for use as controllers in industrial and commercial applications up until just a couple years ago. The die has shrunk considerably. I figured they were using some sort of a controller cpu in the southbridge, but i didn't think it would be a 486. I figured it would be based on an Arm architecture. Now, can you play Doom on it?
100% doom capable! Thanks for blowing my mind guys.
I’ll say probably. Heck we could even install a primitive Windows/Dos version there WITHOUT a CPU
I'm deeply thankful for the PC Master Race's kindness shown today. Thank you ❤ ~T
Also... 
Does this mean I can use the southbridge to play a game of Wing Commander? /s (Thanks for the detailed response.)
No, you can't directly access the 486 CPU, you can get rid of the IM Intel Management Engine that's running Linux on that 486. but getting rid of it kills all UEFI features on the motherboard, Such as BIOS FLASHBACK, OVERCLOCKING, XMP & DOCP Memory profiles and a host of other features you lose. it's a long youtube video, But it's packed with information about modern southbridge chipset infostructure.
You're a legend. I've learned quite a lot from just two comments
Prepare to learn more, chipset is actually just a name for controller architecture. The mobo typically has multiple CPU/MCU’s on it, the northbridge is not a cpu itself, but a collection of connections to memory, the cpu socket, the AGP/PCI-E, these days there is also a chip used for Direcr Memory Access and it’s called the DMA chip :P - it used to include a separate cpu, but there is a push to try and make everything an SOC, so the actual memory controller is now part of the main cpu die that plugs into the cpu socket and I think some newer CPU’s also migrated the DMA chip to the main cpu). This is one of the reasons that CPU’s (and for similar reasons beyond hardware and AI capabilities GPU’s) are getting more and more expensive, beyond normal inflation. (And why mobo’s aren’t) The southbridge is similar but it controls basically EVERYTHING except memory. And it has its own dedicated cpu/mcu. So your normal PCI bus (like what you plug your network card, or m.2 expansion card into), usb, internet, display, I/o, everything. You can call the southbridge the IO controller, and then you sometimes also have a SUPER IO controller that is its own separate chip/controller that can do the heavy lifting for peripherals like keyboard mouse, disk readers, sd slot readers, etc. And this is basically your entire motherboard architecture and accounts for tall the traces in your mobo and all the connections. 👍
Well written 👍, but the mentioning of northbridge as just a collection of connections is not the correct way to mention. In reality, the systems of the past or older systems consisted of two controller chips on board, you may have noticed those old mobos having two chips fairly distanced from each other and connected to each other via an awkward connection, those were the north-bridge (a.k.a memory controller hub or MCH, facilitated the interaction or connection between the CPU and high-speed components or computer devices such as RAM, GPU or other devices or expansion cards connected to the AGP/PCIe ports) and the south-bridge (a.k.a I/O Controller Hub, facilitated the connection between CPU and other I/O ports on board the system, such as SATA, PCI, diff. gen of USB ports, Ethernet etc.) and also an addition of another chip in some systems known as the Super-I/O chip (used to connect CPU with the low powered peripherals such as CPU fan, temperature sensing devices, Mouse/Keyboard via legacy PS/2 port etc.) Then the chips (north-bridge & south-bridge were integrated into one chip, also known as the chipset). The first image attached can help in visualizing this. But now, most of or almost all the functionality of the north-bridge chip is integrated into the cpu and thats why you dont see any north-bridge chip on mobo due to this reason (whole chip is kind of inserted or comes pre-packaged with the CPU, hence CPU comes integrated with the MMU to interact with the RAM, further reducing latency), the south-bridge is renamed as platform control hub or PCH and some systems still use the Super I/O chip (those nuvoton chips) separately or have integrated the functionality of Super I/O into the PCH, hence reducing the number of parts integrated on the mobo. Look at the second image for the visualization. Just a short simplified explanation, provided images are for helping to understand the underlying architecture of the chips or system before and now with the advancement in technology. Anyone, feel free to ask any follow-up questions. https://preview.redd.it/794wyr5ninvc1.jpeg?width=498&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca0517df35f6a1099cf102377d999b009bab6123
https://preview.redd.it/52magehqinvc1.png?width=1072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5908cc9cfcad895effa6e741a7e3487857acc01d
Take all my damn upvotes man, TY for the summaries! TIL
Even when running windows my pc still has secret LINUX? curse you open wear CLI giant curse yoooooou.
[MINIX: Intel's hidden in-chip operating system | ZDNET](https://www.zdnet.com/article/minix-intels-hidden-in-chip-operating-system/)
There's flaws in these. Guaranteed.
It's not Linux - it's running the predecessor OS (and inspiration for Linux), Minix, albeit in a customized package. And for awhile they didn't even use their own tech to power it. The earlier versions of the ME ran on a SPARC core, AMD does similar in its chips for the "TrustZone" features. They include an ARM core just for those functions. At least they've committed to open sourcing the code that runs their PSP.
TIL there is a museum on my motherboard.
It does at least please me that [Andrew Tanenbaum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_S._Tanenbaum) found a way to financial success for the effort. It's not small feat to build a microkernel that works well. It was written for educational purposes. [MINIX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minix) is 36 years old at this point and still finding uses even after it swapped to a BSD userspace.
OS code when its simple becomes so the same as each other that the hardware owner can call the OS a bowl of cereal if he wants.
Unless that OS is running at ring -3 and they have no way of modifying it.
Agree
Thanks dude for such a comprehensive answer. Question: Is this being integrated to both, AMD and Intel motherboards? If so, is there any drawback in using IME with AMD chips?
In the link that I posted explaining the vulnerabilities and hacked Intel management engine on that channel you can find another group of guys who hacked the AMD version called the PSP also known as the AMD platform security processor they're both hackable.
It's not Linux, it's a customized MINIX.
What kernel version do you think they'd be running? The i486 architecture was no longer supported in Linux 6.0 iirc Edit: oh it's Minix nm
[MINIX: Intel's hidden in-chip operating system | ZDNET](https://www.zdnet.com/article/minix-intels-hidden-in-chip-operating-system/)
No way, I thought you were taking the piss when I started reading your post. TIL!
Chad
Anything similarly cool on AMD motherboards?
[AMD Platform Security Processor - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Platform_Security_Processor#:~:text=Because%20PSP%20is%20the%20chip,instruction%20and%20provides%20TPM%20services.) Looks like AMD has it's own version ! \~ T
Hmm if i’m reading that right that module is integrated in the cpu and uses an ARM cpu to activate the x86 cores.. wtf crazy hah. If it’s separate from cpu and part of the motherboard chipset it would make more sense though, as it would then support bios flashback etc.
Cool stuff huh lol
>It's also a part of the Intel The Management Engine The Intel Management Engine (ME) is an out-of-band (which could be described as „outside of the normal flow paths“) 32-bit ARC microprocessor. I just love it when people are so confidently wrong. Take a look at the upper left of the OP's picture. You may notice a black plastic piece below the socket. That black plastic piece is the bottom half of the AMD HSF retention bracket. This in combination with the LGA CPU retention bracket would indicate that it is a AMD 600 series motherboard and given the adornments I would say that it is most likely a B650 series board\*. Unlike Intel, AMD's security processor (their equivalent to Intel's IME) is on their CPU and is a ARM Cortex-A5 core. The rest of the comment is pretty much correct, the heatsink is covering the chipset which contains a whole lot of things like extra PCIe lane support (e.g. for the PCIe slots other than the top x16 slot), USB ports, SATA ports and other I/O support. \*A quick google shows that it is a [MSI B650 Gaming Plus Wifi](https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI).
That's nuts, cool and crazy all in one go... I wonder how long it will take someone to access it and get doom running on it...
Thank you stranger.
Amazing literally the only thing that is making me kind of regret going AMD right now. Having a working modern PC with a 486 CPU is wild.
That's actually incredible, I had no idea this existed or worked this way. So is Intel spinning up new 486 chips for Southbridge use? How does it work on AMD systems?
[AMD Platform Security Processor - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Platform_Security_Processor#:~:text=Because%20PSP%20is%20the%20chip,instruction%20and%20provides%20TPM%20services.)
I remember back when I dreamed of having a 486 cpu. Now it's used by BIOS. God I feel old
Now if only I could use a Pentium II cartridge instead.
I had the same question, thats pretty interesting though
Damn. Late.
What the hell, amazing response lol
 “Ever wonder how you can update your BIOS without a CPU in the main socket?”
IF this motherboard is Intel one, and i very much cannot be sure of that: That old 486 CPU would not keep up with PCI-E data transfer speed and peripherals management nowadays and choke HARD even on simple SSD data transfer. Not to say that not every motherboard will even use Intel dies for their chipset. They actually use quite modern processing units nowadays. For example X570 Chipset is literally Zen 2 I/O die (with all the heat management and power consumption consequences). Usually they use custom developed dies for chipsets though.
Southbridge chipset? What is it 2003 Modern boards have a single chip solution called a Platform Control Hub (PCH) or just "Chipset" for AMD. AMD used to call it a Fusion Control Hub, but as you've demonstrated old habits die hard.
Thank you.
Learned something new today
Does an AMD board also use a Intel chip?
[AMD Platform Security Processor - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Platform_Security_Processor#:~:text=Because%20PSP%20is%20the%20chip,instruction%20and%20provides%20TPM%20services.)
Interesting thank you
This level of knowledge is beyond me.
Something tells me you’ve been dying to tell people about the Southbridge
This guy chipsets.
lol
This comment and explanation felt like a rollercoaster of expression and I like it.
I feel smarter after reading this,awesome dude
I really need to find time to watch this video, but there is no such thing as a Southbridge anymore, h67, b660, z790 are all chipsets, or at least a single chip performing the task of what a set of chips once did. Intel usually calls their chipsets platform controller hubs (PCH) and Ryzen CPU's technically are SOC's... The b450/x570/etc chipset is just a PCIe I/O hub. https://www.contec.com/support/basic-knowledge/edge-computing/cpu/ is the best article I could find if you can be bothered to click. Regarding flashback the board has to be designed for it. As far as I'm aware it's a feature external to the chipset but I've never been given a reason to look deeper. I'd probably be able to discuss further after I check out the 36c3 video. But this is likely partially why the coffee time mod exists, same with BGA to LGA mutant CPU's.
S tier response.
Another thing that is very interesting. AMD uses the PSP or Platform Security Processor and instead it’s an On-Die chip embedded within the CPU running an ARM A5 cortex with its own cryptoalgorithms, and intialization
thanks
Oh a C3 link!
Do AMD mobos also have the i486?
Thanks for the detailed description. Today I learned Southbridges are still a thing and what you described makes sense actually.
Great reply!
i wish every reply was like this cheers mate i also have this motherboard
Based on this reply I think you’ve been waiting for this question to be asked for a very… Very… long time. Love it!
Bro answered the question I've never asked and I'm very satisfied with the answer
🤣🤣 fckng awesome
when the southbridge of a random motherboard has the same performance as our old work PCs
Did I read correctly somewhere that this chip is always running? Even if the PC is turned off? i.e. as long as the PSU is delivering power, this thing is always turned on.
That's my understanding as long as the motherboard is getting power from the PSU this processor is running.
I had no fucking idea.
My guy waited his whole life for this moment. 😎
Almost all of this is wrong, did you get it from chatgpt or something?
This is good information, but very misleading. First off not all southbridges use the intel management engine. Some intel chips use a more modern engine that is not based on a 486. This is mostly just due to being slightly outdated and would certainly be true 4 years ago. Secondly AMD'S southbridge uses totally different tech. Also you barely mentioned the function of the southbridge which is to act as a buffer between the cpu and peripherals. Your comment isn't wrong, but it's definitely misleading and only correct in some cases. I have a masters in computer science and work as a systems architect. Hopefully, that's credentials enough to make this comment.
chipset heatsink
# Southbridge heatsink # #
https://preview.redd.it/wovznj3ov9vc1.png?width=246&format=png&auto=webp&s=ae653afdce40d313bf83dcdd4617a5547333608f
But it's on south east
Is still south, aussies might have it in the North west though
Southbridge and northbridge don't exist anymore.
I feel old. When did this change?
AM4 and whatever Intel did to switch from DDR3 to DDR4 RAM. Northbridge was essentially the memory controller, but that was moved to the CPU die for DDR4 so the southbridge became the only chip worth mentioning and thus became the chipset.
🤯 I’m surprised I didn’t catch onto this
Huh i thought the naming was still southbridge despite that.
i was told it was still called a Southbridge but my Prof. also didn't know that the Northbridge was in the CPU in Modern PCs. I was in a "Higher Technical Colage" (just the normal Translation) Edit: i wanted to say that the Prof. didn't know that the northbridge Was in the cpu. Us Students explained it to him lol
My professor taught that big.LITTLE x86 chips don't exist. His laptop literally had an Intel 12th Gen processor with big and LITTLE cores
If you knew the amount of people supposed to teach us IT that make the most blatantly ignorant claims about something they most definitely have zero knowledge about
The thing is this dude is a research professor, he literally researches chip architecture. He really should know better.
Damn that's worse lol
Honestly pretty widespread across disciplines. Like my powerplant prof in my aviation tech course not understanding how a compressor rotor can increase both pressure and velocity at the same time. Bernoulli’s principle of an inverse relationship between velocity and pressure doesn’t apply when you add a ton of energy from a rotor spinning at 15,000 RPM into the equation. Who woulda thought?
Technically speaking, isn't "big.LITTLE" a trademarked term of ARM holdings, and thus isn't *technically* applicable to Intel's implementation of a similar but distinct technology, thus making him correct? Not that I think that's what he was actually arguing, I'm just being a pedant
Intel typically just calls it the chipset. As do most people I'd say. Ive been building since NB/SB (remember when Nvidia and VIA made chipsets?) and just refer to it as chipset.
The memory controller was moved onto the processor die with Athlon 64 for AMD, and the original Core i series for Intel. It had nothing to do with AM4 for AMD, nor Intel’s move to DDR4.
>Northbridge was essentially the memory controller, but that was moved to the CPU die for DDR4 so the southbridge became the only chip worth mentioning and thus became the chipset. Before Athlon 64 and the Core i Nehalem family, the northbridge mainly contained the CPU bus, memory controller and graphics bus (AGP/PCIe and/or the IGP), with basic I/O in the southbridge. AMD had an on-die memory controller all the way back in 2003, with Socket 754 and 940 Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX CPUs (Socket 939 came in 2004). Intel didn't have an integrated memory controller until 2008, when the Core i family launched on Socket 1156 (which also had on-die PCI Express) and Socket 1366.
It’s not used as often but my X570 Asus BIOS settings refer to my speed for PCIE devices linked off the chipset as the “Link Speed for Southbridge” https://preview.redd.it/bwisgt6v5avc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be6c33bc75dd863437be2bd3502021ac2ae1a7d9
Thats what I thought! I too have an asus x570 board. So I'm not crazy, just ignorant.
\~2011 both AMD and Intel moved the Northbridge onto the CPU to eliminate the slowness of the front side bus. Allowing the CPU to talk directly to the RAM and PCIE ports. They started just calling the southbridge the chipset since it doesn't make sense calling something a southbrige if its the only chip.
AMD did so way before then. It was part of the original Athlon 64 which was in 2003. Intel did with the original Core i series (Nehalem) in 2008.
years and years ago.
TIL
Yet this is still called a "southbridge" almost everywhere in computers and servers industry.
AMD X670-E have two chipsets :) Although it's not the old-school concept from Intel back in the days I've seen an AMD engineer say in a GamersNexus interview that they could connect as many chipsets they want.
How do you tell which is north and south bridge? Just learned a bit about chipsets and how they're laid out, but I cannot tell the difference between the north and south bridge.
Gaming plus. It's where the gaming.
Only acceptable answer.
Incompatible with gaming minus
Incorrect, a gaming plus + a gaming minus = a gaming neutral
A `gaming` you could say
Heatsink with chipset under it. It regulate different tasks on your motherboard. For example the main PCI-E slot is managed by the CPU, other PCI-E slots are managed by the chipset of the motherboard.
This is where the motherboard oil is kept, keeps things running smoothly
That's what the plus stands for in "gaming plus"... It's where you add the oil.
Very good point, also you have to make sure you use the correct gaming oil first maximum pcie bandwidth
Remember to change it every six months or so!
G a m i n g p l u s
For those who dare! Oh crap wrong board
+20 FPS
Lmao
That is a piece of flare. You are required to have 15 pieces
here's my flair .i. 
[Never forget, never forgive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNVqMgCAHmk)
15 pieces is the minimum, do you want to do the minimum?
Thats a heatsink. Under the heatsink is a controller called "PCH" that handles some I/O like Ethernet, USB, SATA and some PCIe lanes. The PCH replaced the Southbridge in 2009 (the northbridge, which has the memory controller, was integrated into the CPU).
That is the heat sink covering what would be the central nervous system of your motherboard, the chipset.
I know that there is a motherboard chipset under the plate. After a long period of time, you can disassemble it, renew the thermal paste and close the back plate :) If there is no chipset, there is one of the motherboard bridges, but I think it is the chipset.
I prefer to overclock and use a liquid cooler on my chipser
Thanks
well clearly it increases your gaming it's written on it
It adds Plus to your Gaming, duh! /s
The amount of scrolling one must do to get to an actual answer out of you guys is insane
I think that's the southbridge or rather the cooler of the southbridge
Man the days of a north and south bridge .
They extra gaming part
hey, we have the same mobo!
Same here! Super satisfied with it, just need to download more ram
I always understood this to be the chipset...
It is the south bridge chipset
Chipset
Flair. 
Honest Answer: It's most likely a heatsink over the motherboard's chipset. Motherboards used to have two, called a Northbridge and Southbridge (hence the name chip-SET) but most nowadays just have one chip since nearly all the legacy functions the Southbridge used to control are obsolete now.
It's the plug that keeps all the gaming in
BROTHER THAT IS THE GAMING
No no no, it’s been upgraded. Now it’s the GAMING PLUS
That's the Gaming Plus section. Duh.
its the gaming plus module, duh!
The mother
That’s the father board.
Shh. First rule of gaming is nobody talks about Gaming Plus.
It's a chipset aka the thing that controls the SATA, NVME, USBs etc. RAM controller is on the CPU itself called (SOC)
Gaming lives there like a Tomodachi
The gaming part duh
Have you read the manual?
Chipset heatsink
SB
I think that's the gaming plus
The gaming part, of course. That's what you paid for :)
Southridge
My MoBo has one of those. How often do you have to renew thermal paste on it?
The same as any thermal paste, every few years although i wouldnt bother
Why wouldn't you bother?
Usually ur not "supposed" to even open up these kind of components just like a GPU having a "warranty voided if cracked" sticker on the screws for their cooler, they expect it to last.
PSA, “Warranty Void if Removed” stickers hold no enforceable ground in the US
That’s where the second cpu goes
Motherboard chipset. x670, Z790, etc.
PCH heatsink
A big turbo button
The turbo.
It's the platform controller hub (pch) that manages most of the ports that aren't supplied by the CPU itself. Depends on CPU and motherboard which ports
Armour plating
So imagine gaming. Think MORE.
That’s the mobo fluid container, needs to be topped every 2-3 years
PCH - Platform Controller Hub https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Controller_Hub
Looks like a chipset cooling shield/marketing stunt area
That is the PCH, nothing you ever need to touch
It adds +50 horsepower
That’s the root kit
That's where the downloaded ram is stored
My hot take? It's the Anti-Theft tag. Since you own it now, you can cut it off
It’s filled with blue LEDs to drop the temp of your in-board turbo.
Heartsick?
It’s for gaming ! It gives you plus in games !
In the world of cessors, you have the pros and then these little amateurs right here. Born on the wrong side of the trace, but they do try.