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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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Figure 6-12 Super I/O chip on ASUS motherboard

Today, other chips have absorbed many of the functions of the classic

chipset. The CPU handles the memory controller features the northbridge

used to do. The primary expansion bus communication (see “Expansion Bus”

later in this chapter) goes through the CPU as well, something the

southbridge handled back in the day. Most techs refer to the remaining

support chips on the motherboard as the chipset, although the terms

northbridge and southbridge are dead.

The system ROM chip provides part of the BIOS for the chipset, but only

at a barebones, generic level. The chipset still needs support for the rest of the

things it can do. So how do expansion devices get BIOS? From software

drivers, of course, and the same holds true for modern chipsets. You have to

load the proper drivers for the specific OS to support all of the features of

today’s chipsets. Without software drivers, you’ll never create a stable, fully

functional PC. Most motherboards ship with an optical disc with drivers,

support programs, and extra-special goodies such as antivirus software (see

Figure 6-13).

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