| An integrated circuit ( generally Intel or VIA ) on the motherboard that is responsible for the hard disk drive controller, I/O controller and integrated hardware such as sound card or video card if present on the motherboard. The Southbridge gets its name for commonly being South of the PCI bus. Below is a graphic illustration of the ASUS P5AD2-E motherboard and some basic explanations of each of the major portions of the motherboard including the southbridge. As shown in the below picture, it's common for the northbridge and southbridge to have a heatsink; in addition, the northbridge is usually slightly larger than the southbridge.
 Some newer motherboards have replaced the northbridge and the southbridge with IHA. Also see: Chipset, IHA, Motherboard definition, Northbridge | |
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