I have a soundblaster z (trash), a jl audio 500/1 mono amp, I don't know what you mean by "good speaker wire" but I'm pretty sure any 14AWG/12AWG solid copper wire will be fine.
What would you consider decent speakers?
I'm pretty sure it'd be better to take the soundcard 100% out of the equation, and use a receiver to handle it. I was looking into receivers and some of them are fucking sick, features stacked across the board. DTS:X, Dolby Atmos; things like Audyssey where you hook an included mic then set it where you would be listening to your music, and it'll output pink noise for awhile then calibrate your speakers for you to sound the best for you, all types of shit. What the fuck does a sound card have?