Best way to get 5.1 audio from laptop

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I just got a laptop, and the audio sounds terrible. The onboard speakers sound more detailed than anything else that I connect to the laptop using the headphones jack. The audio device is a Conexant AMC Audio. I've never heard of it before, so I don't know if it's any good, but the sound sucks. My OEM dell soundblaster card sounds a lot better (more detailed) than the laptop audio.

What would be the best way to get 5.1 surround sound from a laptop?

I found a bunch of threads about using the PCM2702, but all those are for only 2 channels. Would using multiple chips require custom drivers to have 6 separate channels?

Is it possible to send the audio over the ethernet? If so, would the receiver be diyable?
 
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