Xi-fi

[TooNice]

I can vouch for the X-Fi for the sound: the onboard (and the Live!) simply do not compare. Music wise, my Elite Pro drive both my Grado and AKG cans convincingly (well, I do use an amp for the later - still - onboard sound card can't get close even amped). I have a liking for the CMSS feature in movies, though I am less sold for games (many would disagree though).
On the down side, my Elite Pro recently died after 10 months of use so I'll have to put Creative's customer support to the test.

[Guy]

just finshed building my new system which included a retail x-fi card, and i actually am blown away buy it! i cant believe how much differnce there is over on-board!

[Thorsson]

It is very nice. Very very nice.

But don't go for if you have a nvidia chipset, as there are compatability problems resulting in crackling and popping.

I have an ASUS AN8-SLi Premium (NF4 chipset) and absolutely no problems with cracking or popping, so it can't be that simple.

Last time there was a problem with Creative Soundcards popping/cracking it was down to the way DMA was handled by the mobo (although surely Creative's fault). Doubt it's DMA this time, but I'll bet it's some sort of conflict that could be resolved.