In a computer system, a chipsetis a set of electronic componentsin an integrated circuitknown as a "Data Flow Management System" that manages the data flowbetween the processor, memoryand peripherals. It is usually found on the motherboard.

In a nutshell, a chipset acts like the motherboard’s communications center and traffic controller, and it ultimately determines what components are compatible with the motherboard—including the CPU, RAM, hard drives, and graphics cards. It also dictates your future expansion options, and to what extent, if any, your system can be overclocked.