The question of how to find out the model of the motherboard chipset does not arise for ordinary users as usual. Such information may be required by all those specialists who repair computer equipment or replace components on the system board so that the new installed components work correctly and do not cause conflicts with the installed hardware. However, sometimes for ordinary users information about the chipset is extremely necessary. But far from everyone knows how to find out the chipset version of the motherboard installed on a stationary terminal or laptop. Even more confusion arises only because ignorant users very often believe that the name of the chipset and the name of the motherboard itself are one and the same.
Brief Introductory
So, for starters, let's briefly dwell on some important aspects that will help to understand the difference between the main device (motherboard) and the installed chipset. The chipset is a set of chips and connectors that provides the interaction of the main components installed on the motherboard with each other. The name of the motherboard model may differ from the nomenclature designation of the chipset. Often in descriptive documentation or information obtained through the tools of the operating system or additional software, you can also find special designations regarding the north and south bridges.
Today, the binding is mainly applied specifically to the north bridge, but its modification just matches the name of the chipset. Thus, it is possible to find out which chipset is installed on the motherboard from this information, since the full name of the motherboard can only be used when searching for relevant information on the Internet, for example, on the manufacturer’s official resource.
Now it’s worth moving on to the practical part. To get the information we are interested in, you can use either the operating system tools (we take Windows as a basis) or third-party information utilities, the use of which looks more attractive, since they provide much more information on any "iron" component.
How to find out the motherboard chipset: the simplest method
To determine the name of the chipset as the simplest method, we use the simplest method. Apparently, many users paid attention to the fact that immediately after turning on the computer or laptop, some brief information appears on the screen, which you sometimes do not even have time to read.
This is where the necessary information is located. To delay the start-up screen for a longer period of time, immediately at startup you need to press the pause button, usually marked on the keyboard with the double name Pause / Break. The name of the chipset will be shown either in one of the upper lines or at the bottom immediately after the system date is displayed next to the key or shortcut key to access the BIOS.
Note: if you are talking about how to find out the motherboard chipset on a laptop, the delay screen start keys may be different. On full-sized keyboards, most often the pause coincides with the Insert key (Insert), but its use is only possible in conjunction with the Fn button.
Primary BIOS / UEFI Information
Along the way, it is worth considering how to find out the motherboard chipset directly in the primary system.
When the start screen appears, which was mentioned above, you need to use a key or a key combination to enter the BIOS, and then find the chipset section (something like Chipset Configuration), which can be presented on the main panel or in the advanced settings (Advanced ) When deploying options, the bridge configuration is displayed there. The North Bridge is marked in the North Bridge section. There you need to look for the necessary information.
How to find out which chipset is on the motherboard in the “Device Manager”?
All Windows operating systems have a special dispatcher, which presents all the data on the installed equipment. Similar to the case with primary systems, here you need to find the component whose name contains the designation Chipset.
Only it can be seen directly in the system devices section. Please note that the motherboard model may not be indicated here. If you need to find out its exact name, you can use either the name of the chipset or view the equipment identifiers presented on the information tab.
Additional Chipset Driver Information
By the way, if it comes to how to find out the motherboard chipset driver , information about it can be viewed in the hardware properties, and if necessary, using identifiers defined in the information, find the most appropriate control software for installing, for example, an updated driver.
Usually this is not required, since it looks very doubtful that the computer will function normally if there is an incorrectly installed or missing driver.
Search for information through the command line
Another solution to the problem of how to find out the motherboard chipset is to use information that can be obtained from the command line or PowerShell console, which is a kind of extended analogue of the first tool.
To do this, it is enough to execute the command shown in the image above, and then view the information relating directly to the chipset.
Using System Information
Sometimes it’s advisable to use system information. This informative tool is called up via the Run menu by the abbreviation msinfo32. The necessary information will be displayed in the hardware section, and in several places at once (for example, in the sections of conflicts and sharing or IRQ interrupts). The inconvenience of such a technique consists only in the fact that the exclusively general name of the chipset of a certain family is indicated without an exact nomenclature designation.
For example, the image above shows the Intel® Series 6 / C200 Series Chipset Family chipset, the name of which is used to refer to PCI slots, USB ports, etc.
CPU-Z Utility
Finally, let's move on to more advanced software applets that allow, as they say, to “squeeze” the maximum information about any component of the computer’s hardware. The presented utility is one of the most popular and revered programs among users all over the world (and also completely free).
In the application itself, you need to go to the tab for information about the motherboard (Mainboard), where not only its marking will be presented below, but also information directly about the installed chipset.
AIDA64 Program
More informative, it is believed, is the former Everest program, which was renamed AIDA64. To get the most information about all the components of the computer, and not just about the chipset, it is better to use the Extreme version.
You can view the necessary information in the north bridge information item . True, the only and most important drawback of this utility is that it is paid, and the trial version can be used only during the 30-day trial period, although in our case this does not really matter.
PC Wizard application
Also, with regard to obtaining information about the chipset, the free PC Wizard application looks good.
However, it will have to carry out several additional transitions by sections, and all the necessary information on the chipset will be presented in the microprocessor information item (information on the north and south bridge will be displayed in the lower window).
Speecy Information Applet
Now let's see how to find out the model of the motherboard chipset using Speecy. By its nature, it strongly resembles the above-described utilities and has no less information content.
It also needs to use the subsection related to the motherboard, however, the name of the chipset will be shown in the model and revision points of the north bridge.
SSU Utility
Finally, you can get information about the chipset from a special portable SSU program developed by Intel. After starting the application, which, as already understood, you do not need to install it on the hard drive, you need to mark the computer components for which you need to find information (for accuracy, note the motherboard and processor), and then select the display of extended information in a special drop-down list.
General information will be presented at the end of the characteristics of the motherboard, and more detailed information can be found in the processor description section.