Sound Card

Sound Card

Most computers require a sound card to decode sound files into audio that can be sent to your speakers (some have it build into the motherboard). Newer sound cards connect to PCI slots, but some of the older ones connect to ISA slots on your motherboard. Good sound cards allow you to play games and hear "3D audio" that makes it sounds like certain events are actually happening behind you. Some sound cards even do Dolby 5.1 decoding to allow you to listen to DVDs with full surround sound.
Computer speakers are different from regular stereo speakers in that they need to be shielded. They are often more expensive, and there are fewer high quality computer speakers than home stereo speakers. Speakers come in a variety of formats including quad speaker setups / 4.1 (2 front satellite speakers, 2 rear satellite speakers, and a subwoofer), 2 speakers setups, 2.1 speaker setups (2 satellite speakers and a subwoofer), and 5.1 speaker sets (2 front satellite speakers, 1 front center channel speaker, 2 rear satellite speakers, and a subwoofer).