When discussing motherboards, terms such as northbridge or southbridge are often used. Such terminology often confuses inexperienced users, they cannot figure out what the north and south bridges are, where they are and what they are responsible for. In addition, users often confuse the north bridge with the south one and cannot remember their location on the motherboard. If you are also not sure about this issue, then we suggest that you familiarize yourself with our article.
A bridge is a chip that is soldered on the motherboard and is part of the chipset. Traditionally, a chipset consists of two chips called northbridge and southbridge.
These chips are called bridges because they perform a connecting function between the computer's central processing unit and other components. As for the names "north" and "south", these names indicate the location of these chips on the motherboard. By analogy with the poles on a globe, the north bridge is closer to the top and the south bridge is closer to the bottom of the board.
It should be noted that two bridges are no longer used on modern motherboards. Instead of north and south bridges, the south bridge is now exclusively used, since all the functions of the north bridge have been integrated into the processor.
Where is the north and south bridge
As already mentioned, the north bridge (pictured # 1) is a chip that sits at the top of the motherboard, just below. This arrangement is due to the fact that the north bridge is connected directly to the central processor of the computer. Usually a massive radiator or even a radiator with a fan is located on the north bridge, since this bridge heats up much stronger than the south one.
Northbridge (1) and southbridge (2) on the motherboard.
The south bridge (pictured # 2) is the chip on the bottom of the motherboard. Usually a smaller heatsink is located on it; on some motherboards, the south bridge is not equipped with a heatsink at all. In modern motherboards, the chipset can only consist of one south bridge.
What is the North and South Bridge responsible for?
In order to understand what the north and south bridges are responsible for, just look at the block diagram of a typical computer.
At the top of the block diagram, you see the CPU - this is the central processing unit. It is connected by bus to the north bridge, which in turn is connected to the graphics adapter (or AGP) slot, to the memory bus, and to the south bridge. Thus, the northbridge is responsible for linking the CPU to the graphics adapter, memory, and southbridge. Also, the operating parameters of the system bus, RAM and video adapter depend on the north bridge.
Block diagram of a typical computer.
The south bridge is responsible for the interaction with external devices and other functions of the motherboard. It includes PCI Express, PCI, PATA, RAID, USB, Ethernet, Firewire controllers, etc. Also, the south bridge is responsible for power management, BIOS non-volatile memory and interrupts. The interaction of the south bridge with the processor takes place through the north bridge.
Since the south bridge works directly with external devices that are connected to a computer, the probability of its breakdown is much higher than the probability of a breakdown of the north bridge. Often the cause of the premature death of the south bridge is a short circuit in the USB connector or the connection of a faulty drive. The northern part of the chipset can also fail, but it is a more typical problem for it.
It should be noted that in the event of a bridge breakdown, it is not necessary to throw away the entire motherboard. In many cases, the problem can be solved by replacing the chip with a new one or a used one from a similar board. But, this procedure is usually done on only expensive motherboards, since it is not economically feasible on budget models.
All more or less literate users of PCs and laptops have probably heard about such concepts as the south bridge. However, it is one thing to hear, and quite another to understand what it is and what it is for. When these components fail, the repairmen are limited to a faceless phrase like "North / South bridge burned out, needs replacement". And no one will bother to explain to the poor user what exactly happened to his computer. And to know this is very useful. So let's take a look at this topic in this article.
What is the South Bridge?
The south bridge of the motherboard is the controller that is responsible for the operation of some important components of the computer. It controls the operation of USB ports, PCI slots, power, DMA controller, interrupt controller, real time clock, sound controller and other important components. Without this component, normal computer operation is impossible. It simply will not turn on if the bridge suddenly fails. Therefore, you need to carefully monitor it.
Of course, if the south bridge of the laptop fails, it is not as fatal as in the case of the north one, but it is still unpleasant. After all, then the PC or laptop simply will not start. But there are no problems with diagnostics. It is immediately clear what burned out. But let's move on to this very diagnosis and analyze how to understand that this particular bridge has failed.
Troubleshooting
As a rule, diagnosing a malfunction is the first step to understanding the problem and thinking about what to do next. How to understand that the south bridge "ordered to live long"? Very simple. In most cases, the computer simply does not turn on and beeps disgustingly. But here it all depends on the degree of damage to the controller. In the case of laptops, USB ports, touchpad and other peripherals, which are entirely dependent on this bridge, may not work.
Also, a symptom of a malfunction of this particular element may be an incorrect global time in the BIOS and the operating system itself. The option with complete disappearance of sound is not excluded. Even the fact that the south bridge is warming up above the permissible temperature can be a very alarming symptom. This can only mean one thing: very soon it will burn out. Therefore, urgent action is needed.
Breakdown reasons
There can be many of them, but the most common is overheating. The Southbridge is essentially a chipset. Therefore, he needs high-quality cooling. If the cooling system of a PC or laptop is malfunctioning, it is very likely that the controller will burn out. Physical damage is also very popular. A small blow in the right place is enough - and the fragile structure of the chipset will be irreparably damaged. And this is a direct path to the service center. You can't do without it.
There is also a very high probability of liquid getting on the motherboard in the area of \u200b\u200bthe south bridge. One drop is enough for a short circuit to occur. The controller will burn out very quickly. Another common cause of failure is chipset defects. But it is very easy to check, as manufacturers post a list of defective controllers. They will break anyway. And it doesn't matter if it is the south bridge or the north one.
Repairs
The trouble is that the repair of such a component is impossible. Only the replacement of the south bridge will help. The fact is that a person cannot repair a chipset, because it was created by high-tech robots. The person lacks precision. And no one has such tools. So, you still can't do without a visit to the service center to the repairmen. Just do not give your computer into the hands of any "craftsmen" who promise to change the bridge for half the price. Such a would-be specialist can easily kill not only all bridges, but also other very fragile computer components. Please contact professionals only.
If your motherboard has a deliberately defective controller installed in place of the south bridge, and the manufacturer confirms this, then you can change it immediately after purchase. It will not cost you a penny, since this is a warranty case. You will simply have a chipset installed without a defect. It is better not to delay and immediately contact an authorized service center, because the consequences can be very sad when postponing this matter indefinitely.
Prevention
In order for the south bridge of the motherboard to work for a long time and without any problems, you need to follow very simple rules for operating a computer or laptop. Firstly, do not neglect cleaning the device from dirt and dust. Even a small layer of dust can damage the bridge controller. Coolers clogged with dirt and ventilation slots can easily lead to overheating and failure of the element. Secondly, do not expose the device to physical stress. The slightest damage can have the most dire consequences. This should not be neglected, because you can lose not only the south bridge of the device.
Third, do not have the habit of eating or drinking near your laptop. Spilled tea and coffee can have fatal consequences. One drop of any liquid is enough for a short circuit to occur and the south bridge is out of order. Also, don't take your laptop to the bathroom with you. Even if you don't touch it with wet hands, nobody canceled the condensation. Fourth, keep pets away from the laptop or PC. Wool very quickly clogs ventilation slots, coolers and other components of the cooling system. Hence the overheating and failure of the south bridge. Use your device carefully. And then you won't have any problems.
Conclusion
So, above was considered such a component of the motherboard of a computer or laptop, as the south bridge. Now you know what he is responsible for. Although this controller is not as important as the northbridge, you will not be able to turn on your PC or laptop without it. In order for this component to be safe and sound, it is enough to follow the simple rules of safe computer operation. Then your laptop will serve you faithfully for a long time. Now you know how to diagnose the failure of this particular system component. And never refer to "craftsmen". It is better to entrust the gadget to professionals.
One of the frequent breakdowns of modern computers is the failure of the south bridge. If the south bridge is warming up in standby mode, one or all USB ports have failed - these are the main symptoms of its failure. Today we are going to show you a quick way to check the south bridge on a motherboard.
Checking the F_ USB1 connector.
Check F_ USB2.
diodnik.com
How to check if the Intel South Bridge is burnt out?
Fig. 1 USB Data pins On the overwhelming majority of motherboards from Gigabyte, when the standby power is applied, the south bridge starts to heat up in 5-30 seconds. If, in standby mode, the bridge is cold, but immediately after switching on it starts to get very hot, this indicates a malfunction of the 1.5V bridge power supply driver. For ASUS boards, this is a cascade stabilizer made on two field-effect transistors (3.3 ---\u003e 2.4 ---\u003e 1.5), and on Gigabyte boards one or two transistors connected in parallel (for simple boards 3.3- -\u003e 1.5, for more sophisticated 2.5 ---\u003e 1.5, while 2.5 V is generated by a PWM converter). The bridge itself remains alive in most cases.
In the simplest case, when the south bridge is faulty, the POST indicator shows code 25 for Award BIOS and D0-D4 or DD for AMI BIOS.
In 99% of cases, one or more USB Data pins are short to ground, which can be easily checked by ringing them. In the photo, all USB Data pins for the Gigabyte 8IPE1000 rev. 3.1 board, which need to be ringed, are circled in red.
The most difficult-to-diagnose cases are when USB Data does not short to ground, standby voltages are not squashed and the bridge does not heat up even after starting the board. But there were only two such cases in my practice and this is more likely an exception, but we came to the conclusion that the bridge was malfunctioning (the replacement confirmed it) after replacing the cartoon, soldering the socket and flashing the BIOS.
According to our statistics, the Chinese DATA cable for cell phones is to blame in 60% of cases. Another 30% comes from USB Flash Drive and 10% from other USB devices. However, there were cases when USB devices were not used on the board, but the bridge burned out by itself! For prevention, with the active use of cellular DATA cables, it is recommended to install an additional PCI-USB controller.
www.rom.by
How to check the south bridge?
One of the frequent breakdowns of modern computers is the failure of the south bridge. If the south bridge heats up in standby mode, one or all USB ports have failed, these are the main symptoms of its failure. Today we are going to show you a quick way to check the south bridge on a motherboard.
In most cases, for preliminary diagnostics, it is enough to check if the USB Data outputs are shorting to the motherboard ground. For clarity, we will show on the Gigabyte G31M-ES2C motherboard how to make such a simple check. We only need an ordinary multimeter.
To do this, you need to put the multimeter in the dial mode and check the Data outputs of each USB port one by one.
You need to check not only the ports that go to the rear panel, but also the connectors to which USB are connected from the front panel, so let's start with them. For convenience, below is the USB pinout on the motherboard (there are two USB ports in this connector).
We install one probe of the multimeter on the ground of the motherboard, with the second probe, alternately touch the Data + and Data contacts - of each port. The multimeter readings on different ports should not differ much.
Checking the F_ USB1 connector.
As you can see, F_ USB1 has normal readings.
Check F_ USB2.
Everything is obvious here, both USB ports on F_ USB2 are short to ground.
The conclusion is obvious. The south bridge is out of order. Replacing the south bridge is not a cheap thing, it cannot be done at home, in this case, repairing such a motherboard is not advisable.
What causes the south bridge to burn?
There can be a lot of reasons, ranging from banal overheating due to an ill-conceived or improperly assembled cooling system, to low-quality Chinese phone cables or flash drives. Also, the culprit may be a power supply that is out of order.
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diodnik.com
South and northbridge on the motherboard
The computer motherboard is a technically complex device that deserves close attention. It provides interconnection of all the most important components of any computer, such as the central processor, RAM, video subsystem. The design of any of the motherboards is based on the chipset, which is formed from the north and south bridges. About what the north bridge is responsible for on the motherboard, what the south bridge is responsible for and where they are located - further.
What is the North Bridge responsible for?
First, let's figure it out - what is a north bridge on a motherboard? The Northbridge is a controller that coordinates the most active and power-consuming components such as the processor, RAM and integrated graphics. It is not difficult to guess that the duties assigned to it entail increased heating, as a result of which this controller has its own cooling system. Most often it is of the passive type, but there are instances with an active cooling system.
Where is the northbridge on the motherboard
If you look at the motherboard, the north bridge is in the upper half, closer to the central processor. This location was not chosen in vain. Firstly, there are all the devices that are assigned to this controller. Secondly, the active cooling system of the central processor is partially involved in its cooling. This technique can be seen with the naked eye, where there is a passive controller cooling system. If you look closely, you will see that this controller is located so that its heatsink is in the zone of the cooled air flow, forced by the CPU cooler.
What is responsible for the south bridge of the motherboard
The South Bridge coordinates the so-called "slow operations", the list of which is impressive. In particular, it controls the power saving system, system clock, BIOS, IDE, SATA, USB, LAN, Embeded Audio, etc. The south controller is located at the bottom of the motherboard and is not equipped with a cooling system. This design feature often becomes the reason for its overheating and, ultimately, failure of the entire motherboard.
In a normally functioning computer, the temperature of the south bridge is 30 ° C lower than that of its northern counterpart. Therefore, there is usually no reason to worry. The reasons for its overheating, leading to a fatal outcome, can be different - poor contact of the chip with the motherboard, a short circuit in the USB connector, or static discharge transmitted over the USB interface.
Canal-IT.ru
How to check the bridges on the motherboard?
Save urgently!)) One person told me that the bridges on the motherboard burned down (or on the way to another world). How can you check this with only straight arms), desire and a multimeter? There are only 2 power supplies made of iron, this is the motherboard, 3 video cards (one of them is 100% working, this system was once launched on it) and a processor and an operating system for it.
By the way, the board is old, it has all sorts of LPT and COM connectors, besides USB, so you can (maybe) observe some diagnostic signals on them.
- Asked over a year ago
- 3,799 views
- hmm .. well, the north bridge is slots for ddr. memory does not see - the north bridge is out. the north bridge also rules the graphics card slot. the south bridge rules everything else - pci slots, motherboard connectors like any ide, sata, usb, lan, audio Like 2 2 comments
- What kind of mother? Disconnect all peripherals, video and memory from the motherboard, except for the processor, connect the speaker. Check: resistance between RESET and common, USB D +, D- and common. Try to put an eraser on the bottom of the motherboard under the bridge and press the heatsink CAREFULLY WITHOUT SKINS to the board with your hand and try to turn it on. Does the speaker make sounds? What are the voltages on the process, memory, etc.? Like 1 Comment
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Quite often, in service centers, owners of computers and laptops hear a disappointing verdict: "It is necessary to replace the north bridge." There may be a lot of reasons for this, but most often the temperature becomes the "culprit" of the breakdown. Prolonged overheating negatively affects the operation of the entire computer as a whole, and also reduces its performance. In the case of motherboard controllers (north and south bridges), the problem manifests itself most noticeably: both chipsets get very hot, the temperature of the north bridge in working order can reach 50-60 ° C. And a few extra degrees can break the bridge once and for all.
What is the North Bridge in a laptop?
Individual elements of the motherboard are hidden by the laptop keyboard, and the northbridge is no exception. He is responsible for the communication of the video adapter (video card), processor and RAM. The North Bridge ensures the interaction of the above elements, and also determines the speed of their work. In many laptops, the video card and the north bridge are one whole, which is why the control of the video adapter bus also falls on the "shoulders" of this controller. Due to the high operating temperature, the northbridge usually uses a passive radiator or active cooling system.
Why do you need a south bridge on a motherboard?
The prerogative of the south bridge is "slow" operations. He is responsible for the operation of the SATA, IDE, LAN, USB, BIOS, audio and Northbridge interfaces. Several more buses are also connected here, including SM and PCI. The south bridge also has a second name - I / O controller. all connected peripherals communicate directly with it. The temperature of the south bridge is much lower than the north one, because the speed of the operations performed also cannot be compared. Cooling is much less common here. Regular cleaning of the laptop is required to keep the bridge working properly. Otherwise, you will have to contact laptop repair.
What to do if bridge problems start?
If your north bridge is burnt out, only its replacement can solve the problem. This is a rather complicated procedure that can be performed by the professionals of our service center. An alternative solution is to replace the entire motherboard, and it will cost much more.
When the south bridge heats up, you should think about cleaning the laptop, which can solve almost all problems with this controller. Replacement of the south bridge is necessary only in the most critical and neglected situations and it is carried out by analogy with the north one.
Sometimes situations arise when your computer stops working and you have to carry it to a service center. In some cases, you can hear that the South Bridge, and you need to change the entire motherboard. The diagnosis seems to be clear, but not every user knows the concepts of the South Bridge and the North Bridge. These two devices of the computer, or rather the motherboard, are the main functional controllers responsible for the operation of all other components of the motherboard. Together, these bridges form a chipset, but still each of them is responsible for its own functions. These square-shaped chips got such an unusual name due to their location on the mother card: North - in the upper part under the processor, and South - in the bottom.
North bridge
The Northbridge is a control device that is responsible for how the motherboard interacts with your computer's RAM, video card, and processor. In addition, this chipset element not only interacts, but also controls the speed of the above described components. One of the parts of the North Bridge is the integrated video adapter found in some modern motherboards - the so-called integrated video card. Accordingly, this bridge additionally controls the bus of the device responsible for transmitting the image to the monitor and its performance. Additionally, the North Bridge connects all of the above devices to the South Bridge. As a rule, this chip has its own passive cooling, that is, a heatsink is installed, less often you can find active cooling with a cooler. This is done because the temperature of the North Bridge is about 30 degrees higher than the temperature of its South Bridge. This is due to the processing of commands from the most active components of the system and the close proximity to the processor, due to which heating occurs from the outside.
South bridge
The South Bridge is a functional controller, the main function of which is to implement the so-called "slow" connections, which include various buses, USB, SATA and LAN controllers, power supply system, BIOS and even clock, in general, the list is quite long. That is why the failure of the South Bridge leads to the need to replace the entire motherboard. Considering that this controller interacts directly with external devices, ordinary overheating, provoked, for example, by a short circuit, can become the cause of a breakdown.
