AC'97 codec on my ct5880 onboard soundcard

What is the AC'97 codec. ????

I have to run this q'ion by you , cuz I am stumped. Usually I have no
problem with drivers, but I cannot for the life of me, get my onboard sound
on another machine, to work. (it was ok before format,and I have 2 diff cd
devices to test for sound)

the owners manual for the mB is at:
http://europe.giga-byte.com/MotherBo...mmh_e_2001.pdf

And states that is has an
On-Board Sound
Creative CT5880 sound and mentions
AC'97 CODEC

(what is this ac97 codec? ... I looked and got the impression that it is an
extra driver I need on my system, before, (i think) i install my sound
driver of ct5800 which I have had no trouble of trackin down from several
web sites. but when it is installed, ..... NO sound at all comin from my
onboard sound. Even tried playing from both cdrom's and directly from
hdrive, but nothing.

1) what is this AC97, ... it does not apparently come with just the ct5800
driver, so...??
2) I already confirmed that my bios onboard ac'97 sound is ENABLED, (which
it has always been), and that the jumpers on this board have not changed,

Any Sujj.

P.s. the board is an via k7 ga7zmmh
the drivers I am using for this is from the main homepage of
http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard...r_GA-7ZMMH.htm

so...

Help!! .... Pease!!!!

What is the AC'97 codec. ????

A bit of a misnomer, as AC'97 stands for Audio Codec '97 (meaning 1997, as a
matter of fact).

It's a standardized way across manufacturers to create sound. Usually the
sound is more or less entirely driven by the CPU and uses cheap D/As and
filters, and thus not ideal from either a performance or quality standpoint.

Think of it as Joe Average sound. At best.