Help on a connection please!
 

I'm having some difficulty with a couple of connections on my board, and was wondering if I could impose on someone for some advice?

My case (Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced) has a lead (one) coming from the top of the case I/O panel that has two connectors on the end of it. They resemble USB connectors (I know they're not) but one is marked AC 97 and the other is marked HD audio.

CM 690 II Advanced Manual - Cooler Master

It says to refer to board instructions but has some diagrams. On the bottom of page 2-37 of the ASUS manual it says (I THINK) that I should connect the HD lead to the AAFP header?? I'm almost certain this is correct but almost might cook the board.

Secondly my board (ASUS P7P55D-E Pro) has the following.

Intel® P55 Express Chipset built-in
6 xSATA 3.0 Gb/s ports
Intel Matrix Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10
JMicron® JMB363 PATA and SATA controller
1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
1 xExternal SATA 3Gb/s port
1 xSATA 3Gb/s port (black)
Marvell® PCIe SATA6Gb/s controller:
- 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports (Gray)

The black SATA port listed under the JMicron heading (pg 2-34 of the manual)? What is this SATA port specifically for?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Jim

You are correct about the audio connector, it will plug into the AAFP port. However, you will use "ac97" or "hdaudio" connector depends on what you use in the BIOS. I typically use "hdaudio" and make sure the BIOS reflects that.

I think your black SATA connector is just a "bonus" connector that they've added because they could. They wanted to include PATA on this motherboard and the chipset they used to include PATA came with a bonus SATA connector. I just assume they said "Hell why not" and just connected it for you.

I would connector your HDs to either the 6 Intel ports or the 2 Marvell ones.

Thanks a bunch for the reply. The manual didn't specify what to do with it. I thought the 2 Marvel ones were SATA 3 only?
Jim

The Marvell ones are Sata3, but Sata3 is backwards compatible with Sata2. The JMicron controller controls your IDE and eSATA, but since there's only space for one eSATA port on the back, the 2nd port (they normally come in pairs) is made available as a regular Sata port inside the case.

Thanks for the help. The manual could be a little clearer but that wouldn't be any fun. I guess it's not written for the rookies.
Jim