AC'97 Vs. HD Audio?'s

[ComputerWizKid]

I am assembling a computer out of old and new parts (The case being one of the older parts that has an AC'97 Front Panel Connector) I am using a Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3 as the motherboard and it supports HD Audio and AC'97 for the front panel connector (Selected in the BIOS) So my questions are.

1. Is there any significant differences between HDA and AC'97 (Other then the wiring?)
2. Can I rewire the front panel cable to an HDA connector or do I need to replace the jacks themselves?

I am only going to use the jacks for a Pair of headphones and a Mic (Both occasionally so the jacks would be empty most of the time

Thanks

 

[VirtualLarry]

If the mobo BIOS allows you to select between AC97 pinout and HD Audio pinout, then just plug the case header right in, and select AC97. There's not really much difference in functionality between the two, only an incompatible pinout.

I find this to be a major PITA when building with cheaper or older cases that don't have pinouts on the case wires for both. Most modern AMD mobos are all HD Audio, and don't let you select.

The older CoolerMaster Elite 330 cases didn't come with a header block, they came with a mess of seperate single wires, that you would have to wire up to the mobo's header block manually. That's even worse. Supposedly, the newer ones have both, in one block.

 

[ComputerWizKid]

I just checked the Motherboards BIOS and I don't see an option of selecting AC'97 or HD Audio I just see an option of Enable or disable the onboard audio device
I just assumed I would as my Gigabyte boards of the past have had that option
Is there a way to rewire the audio connector?