Motherboard Chipset: What It Is and What to Look For

A chipset used to be a collection of chips on a motherboard. The chipset served as a middleman between the CPU and other components. The chipset on a motherboard determined the compatibility to additional components.

Today, much of a chipset's historical work has been folded into CPUs themselves and otherwise offloaded onto a single chip on the motherboard. While there may no longer be a discrete set of chips that makes up the chipset, what chipset a motherboard has will still determine what components it supports.

Does a Motherboard's Chipset Matter?

Yes, it is essential. Which chipset is on a motherboard is the main deciding factor for compatibility in a modern motherboard. CPU, RAM, and PCI Express lane support are the most important features to consider when selecting a chipset.

Every CPU supports certain chipsets. What type of RAM is supported, as in DDR3 or DDR4, for example, is determined by the chipset. The chipset also determines how many PCI Express lanes are present, which then defines, for example, how many video cards can be installed.

Is the Chipset the Same As the Motherboard?

No, the chipset and the motherboard are not the same. However, a chipset is a part of a motherboard, and it is the part that determines what components your motherboard supports.

Think of a chipset as a category of the motherboard. Once you know which chipset you need to support your components, you will then look for motherboards with that chipset. There will be many different motherboards within a specific chipset with distinct features, but all will still support the same components.

How Do I Find My Motherboard Chipset?

Do a web search for the name of your motherboard, and on almost all pages related to it, you will find its chipset. Alternatively, many motherboards include the chipset in their names themselves (the chipset's name is a short string of letters and numbers).

You can also look at the box your motherboard came in if you have that handy, as well as your motherboard's manual. Don't mistake the name of the chipset for a model number. For example, in the MSI MEG Z490 motherboard, the "Z490" is not the motherboard's model number but rather the board's chipset.

Which Motherboard Chipset Is Best?

There is no 'best' chipset for many reasons. First and foremost, different chipsets will support different components, like specific CPUs. And because components can be more or less powerful than one another, an expensive, high-end, full-featured chipset for a mid-range CPU won't necessarily be better than a lower-end chipset for a more powerful CPU in terms of performance.

Choice in chipset comes down to user preference, need, and budget. Just like, when building a computer, you decide on components based on your individual needs and what you want to do with the computer, certain chipsets will come with features or support components you may not need or plan on using.