What is a DIP Switch?

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Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects simply to a non-technical, business audience. Over…

A dual inline package switch (DIP switch) is a set of manual electrical switches designed to hold configurations and select the interrupt request (IRQ). DIP switches are used in place of jumper blocks. Most motherboards have several DIP switches or a single bank of DIP switches. Commonly, DIP switches are used to hold configuration settings.

Normally DIP switches are found on motherboards, expansion cards or auxiliary cards. They consist of tiny rectangular components that contain parallel rows of terminals (terminal pins) and a connecting mechanism to the circuit board.

Programmable chips on a computer and extra self-configuration hardware have drastically eliminated the need for DIP switches. The trend is for settings can be accessed through a software control panel, allowing for easier and more convenient changes.

DIP switches were originally used to select the IRQ and memory addresses for ISA PC cards; they were mostly mounted on printed circuit boards but were also used to store settings in many arcade games and set security codes in garage door openers and wireless telephones.

There are many types of DIP switches. Two of the most common are:

Less common DIP switches are SPDT (double pole single throw), DPST (double pole single throw), DPDT (double pole double throw) MPST (multiple-pole, single-throw) and MTSP (multiple-throw, single-pole) DIP switches.

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