Soundcard/Speakers question

[DemonEdge]

I need to buy some enw speakers and after looking at a few I noticed they are in categories like 2.1/5.1 and 71. Now if I remember correctly soundcards are like this too and I use onboard sound with my A8V Deluxe (I dont have a soundcard) so I was wondering would any speakers be compatible or do I need a 5.1 soundcard to use 5.1 speakers?

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

there is onboard sound that has 5.1 or 7.1 output too. What onboard do you have specifically?

 

[DemonEdge]

"The motherboard supports 8-channel audio through the onboard ALC850 CODEC with 16-bit DAC, a stereo 16-bt ADC and an AC97 2.3 compaitbles multil-channel audio designed for PC multimedia systems. It also provides Jack-Sensing function, S/PDIF out support, interrupt capability and includes the Realtek proprietary UAJ technology."

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

So, there ya go. You have support for 7.1 speakers but don't have to use 7.1