Part of a silicon chip set, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) logic chips are designed to optimize the performance and power of a central processing unit (CPU). Functions that once required multiples of relatively large integrated circuit boards of much lower computing power and speed, can now be assigned to chipsets of semiconductors that are designed to work together as a unit.

View a low magnification image of an AMD logic chip.

Logic chip sets complement their microprocessors by providing additional features for bus-based systems. Power management is often enhanced by the inclusion of logic chips and may offer additional modes such as low power and stand-by modes, or disk and processor sleeping periods for the computer or other peripheral device so enabled. Output power to AC convenience outlets, CODECs, general purpose ports, and even the speed of the cooling fan may be controlled by the logic chip set, leaving more power for number crunching while conserving batteries in portable devices.

Audio interfaces, controllers, and "glue logic" blocks are other features of a logic chip set. Demand for these additional abilities has grown as personal computers have moved from the laboratory into the home and business as multimedia centers. As semiconductor fabrication techniques are continually refined and miniaturized, more functions are being incorporated on a single multipurpose chip and the demand for logic chip sets may decline.