Some people seem to get results with the internal RealTek card, but a highly recommended upgrade no matter what your computer, is to buy a dedicated external audio interface. These can be very modestly priced such as a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 or similar.
Thanks, I do plan to get an interface at some point. When I get a better laptop I want to run a DAW on it as well, so a decent interface would be a must.