DanDanFlake

That's perfect! Thank you. My motherboard doesn't have an HDMI port (Asus P6T Deluxe) however my video card does and can do audio (Sapphire 280X). So that should hold me over until my next build. What multi channel AVR would you recommend? Budget isn't a huge deal but something I'm still conscious of. I'm not spending 2k for instance. I'm also still entirely open to other alternatives/solutions

That doesn't help me at all. I always upgrade to the latest version of Windows with the exception of 8. I enjoy installing new a OS and participated in the Windows 10 Technical Preview just like I did in previous versions of Windows. I also have experience with multiple Linux Distros. Also the issue isn't with Windows 10 its with creative labs drivers which one had issues with in the past. I may be new to Hi-Fi audio but ik my way around a computer both software and hardware wise. And BTW downgrading Windows isn't difficult as long as you still have your product keys just saying. Now I would appreciate a comment about my ACTUAL QUESTION and not about my operating system.

I recently upgraded to Windows 10. After my upgrade was complete I realized my sound card (Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Pro) the manufacturer won't update them anytime soon. This sprung me to do some research on finding a new audio solution. Upon doing some research I found that using an internal sound card especially one like the one I was using was inferior to many other options. Now here comes my dilemma and confusion as to what I need. A buddy of mine uses a stereo receiver to play back audio over his computer. I like the way that looks and sounds and was thinking that would be the route I would go as I want something with multi-channel capabilities (I'm currently running 5.1 surround on my computer) although I would be willing to drop down to a 2 channel setup although ultimately I would like the option to have a full surround setup. Would a good stereo receiver benefit from a DAC? Or should I just hook the receiver directly up to my computer?