Computer speaker/headphone/mic help

[Iron Clad Burrito]

I'm sure this has ABP somewhere, but my search-fu is weak.

I currently have some old Labtec speakers, Spin-50 or thereabouts, that have a headphone AND mic input on the front of one. Awful convenient for when I wanted to plug in my headphones/microphone for some gaming.

These speakers have bit the dust -- volume control is iffy now, and the headphone jack is only putting out sound on the left side. I just went through Wal-Mart AND Fry's and couldn't find anything I wanted to replace it.

So, I come to you guys...
My current sound setup is the aforementioned speakers, and plantronics headset, going into the onboard sound of an Abit KN8.

The $64K question:
Is there a way to have everything plugged in to the back of the computer and run it, being able to use headphones or speakers at will with no hassle? I'm the only one on the machine with the patience to tinker with settings, and I'm DEFINITELY the only one who will pull the machine out and plug/unplug things, so what I'm looking for is a "hands-off" solution.

And a bonus questions: Same question with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card I have here, but am selling ATM. I did try once before to get it going with that setup, but didn't succeed. If the TBSC succeeds where onboard fails, I'm cool with that.

Caveat: I'm not an audiophile, don't care about x.1 setup. It's going to be 2 speakers and a headphone. If I get this going, I'll probably just get some inexpensive Altec Lansing or something along those lines.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Iron Clad Burrito]

nm, Arstechnica schooled me on the Santa Cruz. Thanks, tho...!