External Soundcard for Laptop?

[rdh3t]

I'm getting a Gateway 600X P4 2.2g, 512 DDR SDRAM, running Sonar in XP. I'm planning on a Presonus Firestation firewire interface. The laptop 600X can only come with "Soundblaster Pro compatible sound and speakers" I cant get a totally straight answer as to what exact soundcard it is and who makes it. I will be recording 2-10 tracks at a time, playing back up to 24, and hoping to use this as a start to finish, studio and stage to mastering station. With this setup should I get an external soundcard? Any suggestions?

Thanks

Ryan Hughes