New Build - Chipset confusion

[Mathias90]

So I recently put together my first build. Running smooth so far, for now.

I am using a Sabertooth z77 MOBO, and i5 3570k processor.

I am confused as to what really a chipset is and how/if it needs updating? Is it tied to your mobo? Processor?

I believe I installed the chipset with that came with the disk. I have the intel 82802 chipset according to Device Manager.

Everything is working fine , but I want everything updated.

 

[blazorthon]

You installed the chipset's driver. The chipset is a part of the motherboard. For example, your motherboard's chipset is the Z77. It is a set of one or more chips on the motherboard that define some of it's capabilities. For example, for Sandy and Ivy Bridge, the P67, Z68, and Z77 are the only three compatible chipsets that allow CPU and memory overclocking and the H67, H61, Z68, and Z77 are some of the chipsets that support using the on-die video of the Sandy and Ivy Bridge CPUs. H61 is generally used by the cheapest LGA 1155 motherboards, but it does not support faster memory, SATA3, or USB3 natively like the other chipsets do.

The chip set consists of the North Bridge and the South Bridge chips, sometimes they are combined into a single chip, and sometimes there are more chips (such as a separate GPU built into the motherboard), all on the motherboard.