Computer Surround Sound Systems

Hello Tom's Hardware folks! I'm not sure I'm posting this to the right section of the forum, so if I need to close it and move it please let me know. My surround sound system for my PC is pretty old now...I think I may have purchased it in 2005 or 2006. While it still works and there's nothing technically wrong with it I decided to entertain myself by seeing how much a new system would cost and possibly dropping in a sound card since my old PC had a Creative X-Fi card that I absolutely LOVED. I saw a few sound cards on Newegg that I was interested in and then headed over to the speakers section of the site and could only really find 2.1 systems for the PC. Figuring I was looking in the wrong place I went over to the home audio section and just started getting really confused by what I was seeing. Systems with receivers, huge audio jacks, some were wireless and most were not...I just closed the site and figured I'd ask Google what the deal was and got even MORE confused! It's been a long while since I've been in the market for new computer stuff since my computers tend to last 5-7 years before something breaks and by that point I'm ready for a new PC anyway since it's become massively obsolete. I am a PC gamer and after seeing many retailers only selling 2.1 systems for the PC I figured that maybe these new systems were able to replicate surround sound without having a bunch of speakers all over the place. I suspect I've very wrong though...
So, I guess I have a few questions I need some answers to. Am I to assume that the new 2.1 speaker systems are still no substitute for 5.1 or 7.1 systems? I know many people say that sound cards aren't really needed because on board sound is just as good, but would a decent mid-range sound card be alright to get some better audio quality for my music and games and stuff? And how, for the love of God, do you hook up these new systems!? I saw something about hooking up the HDMI on my GPU into a receiver and then running another HDMI into my monitor from the receiver which to me makes no sense but...I guess I'm just totally out of the loop. I built my computer last year so I'm slowly going to be adding extra stuff to it as cash becomes available and the need arises. I'm certainly not running out and buying a new sound system tomorrow and as it stands I'm still using a VERY old VGA monitor that was purchased back in 2001 (!!!) and I'm patiently waiting for it to just break already so I have an excuse to buy a new HD monitor with HDMI input. Also, if I have to use HDMI would the sound card be just simply pointless? The sound cards I see don't have any HDMI outputs, just the standard 3.5mm jacks that I'm guessing are just obsolete anymore? SO MANY QUESTIONS! If someone would be nice enough to give me a few suggestions, or some ideas how the new computer audio thing works I'd much appreciate it. I'm also really interested in using Bluetooth when possible. I'm tired of seeing wires all along the wall running to the back speakers. I know this is all over the place, I'm not making much sense, and I'm asking a million questions but I feel like a fool and that I'm somehow missing something important and I'm just not reading things the right way or something. Thanks in advance!
Chris