Me: I have a main desktop PC that I use for "general use", games, and playing music.

- Soundcard: A Soundblaster Z
It sounds better than an integrated Realtek soundchip. Maybe the difference isn't that spectacular these days anymore - but I care a lot about sound and music so I think it's worth it.
I can still play old games with the EAX effects. Not always an improvement, but sometimes it is!
It has decent ASIO drivers. I have a separate studio room / PC, but it's a nice extra anyway.
I'm sure a really expensive external DAC can sound better, but I'm not made out of money (+ 'diminishing returns').

- Speakers:
I've had a Logitech Z2300 2.1 set for around 15 years. Really good speakers for the money. I don't think Logitech has ever made anything as good or better since then. The 'cheapest' part was the integrated control pod, which has 'acted up' the last couple of years.
Recently I've replaced them with an Audioengine A5+ set. They definitely sound better; more detailed and better stereo imaging. But I'm still getting used to them - no subwoofer and they can sound 'unforgiving'. Maybe I'll get a subwoofer in the future...
5.1 has never been very practical for me (the placement of the rear speakers). I have a 5.1 receiver + speakers connected to the TV (for movies / TV shows). The surround effect has always been underwhelming when watching video but I've found it a lot better when my SO uses it to play xbox 360/One games. I don't know if PC games have a similar implementation?

I'm sure "the average gamer" uses some headset that allows them to shout insults in their favorite online game. But this is the GOG forum and there are a lot of different people/"gamers" posting here. The main computer hardware aspects get mentioned here regularly, but rarely 'sound'....

Around 2 years ago i got fed up trying to get X-fi drivers (official ones were crap so i had to resort to custom ones) to work properly on Win 7 so i bought a Sound Blaster X AE-5. Problem solved and it works even better on Win 10.

As for speakers i have been using Inspire T6160 (5.1) since 2011. They still work fine but it's probably time for something beefier. Surround works like a charm with this combo. And so does upmixing for stereo sources. Something that never worked correctly on my X-fi past WinXP.

Looks like a localized version (the T6150), I'm not finding English websites when I search for it.
And I agree, Creative has had driver issues for years. Even my soundblaster Z has them. Maybe they solved them all with their latest generation - maybe you're just lucky because of your hardware / software combination.

Onboard sound chip (Realtek® ALC1220 Codec), a line out cable to my amplifier that has its own stereo speakers. I may use headphones at night but plugged into said amplifier then.

I found it pretty hard to find information online about old passive speakers. Especially the ones that aren't HUGE.

Mine are fairly small and I also could not find information online but the sound is good even if the very, very low base is lacking due to being smallish, still about a foot high though. Living in a single room flat I feel I do not need a lot of base but I guess one of those square base speakers could supplement my setup.

Neighbours are a pest! ;-P

Still, sometimes it's better to be able to use it sometimes than never at all (you can turn the subwoofer off at night e.g.). I live in an apartment without neighbours, but who knows what it'll be in the future...

IMO, a subwoofer adds more to games or movies than to music. But still, for many years I was used to listening to music with a subwoofer. I'm sure that it's more habit than anything else. They look like crappy underpowered speakers. Is (was) it a budget thing or a priority thing? (or combined)

I'm very happy with the soundblaster ae 5 card i recently obtained

2.0 speakersystem from soundblaster

and a logitech pro headset which works great

the desktop speaker set is fairly old though still in great working order. bass treble and mid are all well defined, if those meet their end i will probably replace those for the gigaworks t40 series II or the next installment. Speakers can endure quite long i belief

for first person or third person (rpg) gaming the logitech headset outfavors the speakerset for the amazing surround quality

realtek because I'm cheap I really don't give a shit as I'm half deaf anyway living in a 3 bedroom asbestos sh!thole with no bath (only shower) and no dining room + paying more rent then the old BIGGER brick home that we had

was paying 275 PW for it now paying 360 PW for something less then half the size!

these swan M10's have pretty rubbish tweeters can barely here and voices sound muffled!

I've been using a 14 years old Altec Lansing BXR1121, a 2.1 speaker subwoofer. It has served me well for all these years but the cable (the bottom right one at the pic) has been loosed by years of usage making left-right channeling broke for time to time.

Been browsing for a cheap 2.1 speaker but there's always something else to prioritize.

ASUS Xonar DS -> Cambrige Audio Topaz SR10 (https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/eur/en/products/hifi-and-home-cinema/topaz-sr10) -> Magnat Monitor Supreme 202 (https://www.magnat.de/en/detail/index/sArticle/705)

soundcard?:O but why? motherboards have good enough built in
and no soundcards dont sound better at all

Did you read the text under the word soundcard in my opening post?

My usual sound setup is usually a pair of 12 year old Logitech Z-5 USB powered speakers attached to whatever machine I happen to be using at that particular time. If the Z-5's are out of reach, or inconvenient to relocate (which are usually attached to the main desktop), then the onboard speakers of the machine being used would be the current output, unless they were too ghastly to use...