LE82GM965

The Northbridge typically handles communications among the CPU, in some cases RAM, and PCI Express (or AGP) video cards, and the Sourthbridge. Some Northbridges also contain integrated video controllers, also known as a Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH) in Intel systems.

Because different processors and RAM require different signaling, a given Northbridge will typically work with only one or two classes of CPUs and generally only one type of RAM. There are a few chipsets that support two types of RAM (generally these are available when there is a shift to a new standard). For example, the Northbridge from the Nvidia nForce2 chipset will only work with Socket A processors combined with DDR SDRAM; the Intel i875 chipset will only work with systems using Pentium 4 processors or Celeron processors that have a clock speed greater than 1.3 GHz and utilize DDR SDRAM, and the Intel i915g chipset only works with the Intel Pentium 4 and the Celeron, but it can use DDR or DDR2 memory.