I'd learned that having a dedicated sound card took processing cycles rom your CPU, so I added that to O:PU.
Researching, I learned that Creative's "X-Fi" chip was considered to be an evolution in PC sound technology, so I limited my scope to only X-Fi solutions... and there were a few.
At the top of the price list was the "Fatal1ty" signature series audio card... "Fatal1ty" being some gamer who won a LAN meet, or something. He also endorses other gaming gear.... though I know nothing about the dude's integrity. For all I know, he'd put his name on a box of elephant shit if someone gave him ten bucks.
His card was about $140, and didn't seem to have enough additional functionality to make it twice as good as the "XtremeGamer" card I purchased for about $70.
I've had the card for about 2 weeks, now, so I'd have a chance to let it soak in. Installation was a little harder than installing a new stick of RAM, but it wasn't too bad. The hardest part was disabling the motherboard's on-board audio, which ultimately ended up being as simple as going into bios and flipping a toggle in the settings.
The card software has 3 settings: Gaming, Entertainment (music/movies), and audio creation. So far I've done everything but create audio.
I am surprised that I actually hear new parts in my mp3's that I never knew were there. And doesn't that say it all? Mid-range 5.1 speaker system, and a mid-range dedicated audio card, and I can hear sounds in my media that I never knew existed.
So there it is. If you care at all about having anything but baseline audio, then this is a good card to go with. No complaints, either with price or performance.