I'm setting the BIOS on a new build of an ABIT IP35 Pro system, before installing Win XP, in an Antec 900 case. The manual is confusing on a couple of issues.
There are only HD Audio drivers available. Looks like the FP Audio header will take either the HD Audio or AC97 plug from the Antec case(?) I want to run SPDIF optical out to some Logitech Z-5500's. What is the best way to do this?
I'm assuming that the HD Audio is so you can use another header to connect HD sound to your HD capable vid card, if you wanted to. Is this correct?
In the BIOS you can choose HD Audio or AC97 codec. Is that for an add-on AC97 sound card option?
The MB manual states that to run the AC97 codec, you have to disable the FP Jack detection.
If I set the BIOS for HD Audio, connect the HD Audio connector from the case to the FP Audio header, and install the ABIt HD Audio drivers, am I good to go with the Z-5500 speaker setup via the optical out?
Thanks for any clarification on this. For some reason it's a little confusing to me.
Oh, one more question: This rig will be running a single 150 GB Raptor HD. When you google AHCI, (and I've searched here as well for an answer), wiki says that Intel recommends to install the RAID and AHCI drivers during the Win XP install; that it helps prevent some probs later on? Any truth to that? I know you can't always trust wikipedia info. Can I just install the AHCI driver and be good to go, provided I choose the correct mode in the BIOS first?
Thanks again for any info.
- Bill
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