Must speakers be connected to a sound card?

Just plug the speakers to these audio ports in your motherboard. The ports are 5, 6, and 7. Your speakers go in the green one, your microphone goes in the red one.

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You will never need a sound card, unless you're some audiophile or a professional DJ or music developer.
 
that isnt quite true techncidlc...

a soundcard is sometimes required if the onboard sound is distorted, crackling or has other issues. in some cases the ports can stop working as well.

as long as everything is working and there are no distortions though... i agree that you dont need one.

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you do not need a seperate slot or external soundcard.... but you do need a sound processing device of some sort (the ports on the motherboard are connected to the soundcard that is built into your motherboard is fine).

if you want to be technical... you can plug in speakers into any device with a 3.5mm output (phones, ipods, laptops, pc, radios)
 

Thanks for pointing that out for me, I forgot that.. But on most cases this shouldn't happen, and people are perfectly fine with the on-board audio.

 
for the most part, yes, the onboard audio will work for most people.

oh and i think i need to call out the microphone port as pink (not red) :p

Color Function Connector symbol
Pink Analog microphone audio input. 3.5 mm minijack A microphone
Light blue Analog line level audio input. 3.5 mm minijack An arrow going into a circle
Lime green Analog line level audio output for the main stereo signal (front speakers or headphones). 3.5 mm minijack Arrow going out one side of a circle into a wave
Brown/Dark Analog line level audio output for a special panning, 'Right-to-left speaker'. 3.5 mm minijack
Black Analog line level audio output for surround speakers, typically rear stereo. 3.5 mm minijack
Orange Analog line level audio output for center channel speaker and subwoofer. 3.5 mm minijack
Silver/Grey Analog line level audio output for surround side channels. 3.5 mm minijack
Gold/Grey Game port / MIDI 15 pin D Arrow going out both sides into waves