Will my motherboard do?

I would try it with the onboard sound, maybe. You have 8-channel and both optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs. One thing, though--what do you mean by "5.1 surround sound system"? If it's a dedicated speaker setup like Logitech's (don't get me wrong, I am NOT recommending that), you're in business. If you mean SPDIF to a receiver setup, then to get surround sound from games you'll need a sound card with Dolby Digital Live or DTS Direct. Unless your video card and receiver both do audio through the HDMI, and you're running Vista or 7 (I think). Also unless your receiver has discrete analog inputs for each of the 6 or 8 audio channels.

What's a SPDIF to a receiver setup?

Double post .... answered you in the other thread.

Like home theater. You'd have a receiver powering speakers, and you'd run all your audio into that--TV, radio, CD player, DVD, Blu-ray, PC. You can send audio from a PC to a receiver through the SPDIF (digital audio) out on the back of your computer. There are two flavors of SPDIF: optical and coaxial.

Looks like I should buy a soundcard as well then, have any suggestions on a good one that won't cost to much? (I'm already blowing a lot on new GF100 cards etc)

Thanks very much for the help btw

I'm not clear on why you now think you want a card instead of on-board, and what you want to use your computer's sound for.

Most recent post here

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/257149-11-will-moth...

I've found my answer, thanks for your input though.