which is also what im doing
im buying the usb creative x-fi 5.1 ext soundcard to pair with the 8150
i bet you wont be using its speaker if you are really gaming for real 

The Realtek ones in laptops are pretty squeeky in terms of sound. High treble issues, and very common in many laptops. Not only this, it runs off the motherboard and adds a bit of strain on it. The Realtek has a cool feature that you can change the key of the speakers (kinda like increasing/decreasing the pitch). If you tweak it a bit, the Realtek can be a decent card.

The USB X-Fi was designed to run independently from the laptop.

It has better software packages, surround sound support and Creative only features (e.g. Crystallizer, robust equalisations). Well, in simpler terms, you get more "umph" in your bass, and better treble. The only downside is that you have to have external speakers/headphones. There's a very big difference in quality, but I can't show you that right now as I am at work now haha.

But if you're not too bothered about the sound, the Realtek is actually still a good card to have and also good for those who do not have speakers/headphones. If you're tight on money then just go for Realtek...unless you can haggle in Lowyat Plaza. Got my X-Fi for RM190.

Yeah, just as lee_what says, most laptops are 2.0 speakers.

5.1 THX TruStudio is just the program included, that allows 5.1 to be emitted from a set of 5.1 speakers if you have them (I think, I have to confirm this when I get the laptop next week)

Anyway, regarding the GPUs. The 6970m is cheaper than the GTX 485m and performs almost equally, but I would think the GTX 580m is priced higher than both (obviously it's leagues higher than the other two). Power hungry isn't an issue if you're ordering the NP8170 or the NP8150; both have 180W power adapters. The issue pops up when you are using the NP8130, with the 120W power adapter.
Also, an update on the orders worldwide. The laptops have begun shipping to customers yesterday (Thursday). Finally, the wait is over!

The bigger power supply allows concrete solution for future upgrades. If you scrape the 180W adapter on the 8130 then it would be viable for higher power consumption GPUs and CPUs. However, if you run a 120W with the GTX 485m, the card would not perform as well as it would.
No. Clevo decides to remove the integrated solution for the higher end cards due to driver incompatibilities with some games (e.g. Punkbuster may think you're hacking, weird).

Looking forward to it!

Video review of what lol.

EDIT:

I did a small one...regarding the speakers. This is to show how it sounds like, that 2.1 speakers it has. It sounds amazing actually, very impressed.

This will be in the full review later.