28-11-2012, 05:36 PM
BIOS and CMOS
BIOS.pdf (Size: 1.24 MB / Downloads: 374)
Northbridge and Southbridge
• Northbridge
– Chip or chips that
connect the CPU to
memory, Level 2 cache,
the PCI express bus,
and AGP activities
– Northbridge chips
communicate with the
CPU thru the Frontside
Bus
• Southbridge
– Handles all of the inputs
and outputs to the
many devices in the PC
• A chipset is a set of
Northbridge and
Southbridge chips
that work together
BIOS
• A special kind of program is required to
enable the CPU to talk to other devices
• A ROM chip stores these programs
• These programs are collectively known
as the Basic Input/Output Service
(BIOS)
CMOS Setup
• The following CMOS setting options are
available:
– CPU soft menu – Enables you to set the voltage
and multiplier settings on the motherboard for the
CPU.
– Advanced BIOS feature – Used for selecting boot
options.
– Advanced chipset features – Deals with extremely
low-level chipset functions.