 | This article needs to be updated. (October 2023) |
Around the time that the Pentium 4 processor was introduced, Intel's Xeon line diverged from its line of desktop processors, which at the time was using the Pentium branding.
The divergence was implemented by using different sockets; since then, the sockets for Xeon chips have tended to remain constant across several generations of implementation.
The chipsets contain a 'memory controller hub' and an 'I/O controller hub', which tend to be called 'north bridge' and 'south bridge' respectively. The memory controller hub connects to the processors, memory, high-speed I/O such as PCI Express, and to the I/O controller hub by a proprietary link. The I/O controller hub, on the other hand, connects to lower-speed I/O, such as SATA, PCI, USB, and Ethernet.