computer science

List of AMD chipsets

List of AMD chipsets is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of AMD chipsets rather than just read about it. In short: This is an overview of chipsets sold under the AMD brand, manufactured before May 2004 by the company itself, before the adoption of open platform approach as well as chipsets manufactured by ATI Technologies after October 2006 as the completion of the ATI acquisition. North- and Southbridges Northbridges AMD-xxx A-Link Express II A-Link Express and A-Link Express II are essentially PCIe 1.1 x4 lanes.

Key takeaways

List of AMD chipsets belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of AMD chipsets to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of AMD chipsets from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is an overview of chipsets sold under the AMD brand, manufactured before May 2004 by the company itself, before the adoption of open platform approach as well as chipsets manufactured by ATI Technologies after October 2006 as the completion of the ATI acquisition.

North- and Southbridges

Northbridges

AMD-xxx

A-Link Express II A-Link Express and A-Link Express II are essentially PCIe 1.1 x4 lanes. See Comparison of ATI Chipsets for the comparison of chipsets sold under the ATI brand for AMD processors, before AMD's acquisition of ATI.

A-Link Express III A-Link Express III is essentially PCIe 2.0 x4 lanes.

Southbridges

AMD-xxx

1 Parallel ATA, also known as Enhanced IDE supports up to 2 devices per channel.

A-Link Express All models support eSATA implementations of available SATA channels.

1 Parallel ATA, also known as Enhanced IDE supports up to 2 devices per channel.

Fusion controller hubs (FCH) For AMD APU models from 2011 until 2016. AMD marketed their chipsets as Fusion Controller Hubs (FCH), implementing it across their product range in 2017 alongside the release of the Zen architecture. Before then, only APUs used FCHs, while their other CPUs still used a northbridge and southbridge. The Fusion Controller Hubs are similar in function to Intel's Platform Controller Hub. It communicates with the CPU using the UMI interface.

Secure Digital:

Codename:

UMI:

Switch to SoC AMD's FCH has been discontinued since the release of the Carrizo (2015, AM4) series of CPUs as it has been integrated into the same die as the rest of the CPU. What is known as the "chipset" is instead a special PCIe device that combines the functionalities of an PCIe switch (which expands the number of available PCIe lanes), a USB host, and/or a SATA host. This device connects to the CPU via a dedicated PCIe link. Technically the processor can operate without a chipset; it only continues to be present for interfacing with low speed I/O. AMD server CPUs adopt a self contained system on chip design instead which doesn't require a chipset. PCIe-based AMD chipsets have been repurposed as PCIe add-in cards: the AsRock "X670 Xpansion Kit" uses an additional B650 chipset to convert the AsRock B650 LiveMixer into an X670. An open-source "B650 Southbridge Expansion Card" also uses a B650 chip (single Promontory 21) and provides additional M.2, SATA, and USB ports. It works on both Intel and AMD platforms.

AM4 chipsets

A total of 3 generations of AM4-based chipsets has been released. These generations begin the numeric part of their models with 3, 4 and 5, respectively. In addition to their traditional chipsets, AMD offers chipsets with "processor-direct access", exclusively through OEM partners. Enthusiast publication igor'sLAB obtained leaked documents about an AMD "Knoll Activator" that enables "activating... processor I/O and processor features in the absence of an alternative AMD chipset." It is concluded that motherboards with the Knoll Activator would be built with I/O from the processor and low-cost I/O chips. Individual chipset models differ in the number of PCI Express lanes, USB ports, and SATA connectors, as well as supported technologies; the table below shows these differences.

The 300 series, 400 series, and the B550 chipsets are designed in collaboration with ASMedia and the family is codenamed Promontory. The X570 is designed by AMD with IP licensed from ASMedia and other companies and is codenamed Bixby. Network interface controller, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth are provided by external chips connected to the chipset through PCIe or USB. All 300 series chipsets are made using 55 nm lithography. The X570 chipset is a repurposed Matisse/Vermeer IO die made using a 14 nm process.

TR4 chipsets Supports both 1st and 2nd generation AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors.

sTRX4 chipsets Supports 3rd generation AMD Ryzen Threadripper (3960X to 3990X) processors.

Although the X399, TRX40 and WRX80 motherboards' CPU sockets use the same number of pins, the sockets are incompatible with each other due to ID pins and no-connects of some pins. Twelve TRX40 motherboards were released at launch in November 2019. The TRX40 chipset does not support the HD Audio interface on its own, so motherboard vendors must include a USB audio device or a PCIe audio device on TRX40 motherboards to integrate audio codecs.

sWRX8 chipsets Supports 3rd (3900WX) and 4th generation (5900WX) AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro processors.

Although the X399, TRX40 and WRX80 motherboards' CPU sockets use the same number of pins, the sockets are incompatible with each other due to ID pins and no-connects of some pins. Three WRX80 motherboards were released at launch in March 2021. The WRX80 chipset does not support the HD Audio interface on its own, so motherboard vendors must include a USB audio device or a PCIe audio device on WRX80 motherboards to integrate audio codecs.

AM5 chipsets AMD uses a single Promontory 21 chipset for all configurations that include a chipset. A single Promontory 21 chip provides four SATA III ports and twelve PCIe 4.0 lanes. Four lanes are reserved for the chipset uplink to the CPU while another four are used to connect to another Promontory 21 chip in a daisy-chained topology for X670, X670E and X870E chipsets. While AM5 chipsets are still designed by ASMedia, but AM5 chipsets greatly improved peripherals stability (such as USB and PCIe).

sTR5 chipsets The sTR5 socket has two chipset options available, TRX50 and WRX90:

TRX50 is an HEDT (High-End Desk-Top) platform which is intended to be paired with Threadripper (7000X) series processors, but is also compatible with Threadripper Pro models. When a Threadripper Pro CPU is paired with a TRX50 motherboard, extra features like enterprise management and security won't be available to the user, and PCIe lanes and memory channels will still be limited to that of non-Pro Threadripper. WRX90 is a workstation platform for Threadripper Pro (7000WX) series processors. It is not compatible with the Threadripper non-Pro 7000X series. HD audio support is provided by the CPU, rather than by the chipset.

See also List of AMD graphics processing units List of AMD microprocessors List of AMD processors with 3D graphics List of Intel chipsets

References

External links AMD Chipsets

Illustrations

AMD chipsets logo

AMD Chipset logo, in use from around 2000 to 2011

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of AMD chipsets

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of AMD chipsets claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of AMD chipsets before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of AMD chipsets ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of AMD chipsets

In research: List of AMD chipsets appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of AMD chipsets in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of AMD chipsets is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics AMD chipsets, Computing comparisons, Lists of microprocessors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of AMD chipsets outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of AMD chipsets in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of AMD chipsets means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is List of AMD chipsets in simple terms?

Why does List of AMD chipsets matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of AMD chipsets?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of AMD chipsets.