Yikes! Why spend so much for a sound card? I almost didn't let myself buy the Creative X-fi Xtremegamer for $90, might be a little cheaper now.
Anyhow, I also like to run games fast and listen to music. I have good Sennheiser PX250 headphones and decent 5.1 surround system and everything sounds as good as can be, to where any possible gains I might get from a 3-4 hundred$ card would be barely noticeable. Clarity is amazing as is the surround sound.
But even more I love the performance boost I get on many games with this card. Called Xtremegamer for a reason, I have seen with my own eyes the advertised (up to) 15% performance in games compared to both onboard audio or even the $30 soundblaster cards.
I've seen both the most generic Live card and my xtremegamer work just fine in vista now, creative is actively updating drivers and some are very new. I haven't noticed any issues, but if there are some I feel pretty confident that they will get anything major worked out, if they haven't already.
If you said you weren't a gamer and were solely dedicated to audio and do some serious HiFi stuff that is beyond the norm, then the $300+ card might be for you.
Also, if you are simply rich$$ and don't care about gaming, then by all means, as was mentioned, buy the most expensive card with the best reviews.
There is one person I happen to know that is on a budget and has been willing to spend $300+ just for perhaps a 3%-5% increase in sound quality for his very HiFi 7.1 (and very expensive) speaker setup.
It only makes sense because he is dedicated to audio and he isn't a gamer at all. His computer is just a sound machine, basically.
He mixes and produces some tracks, does some serious HiFi work.
But even in his case, he followed the general rule of thumb, which was to buy a really sweet and expensive speaker system before buying an expensive sound card.
However, even for the average extreme gamer with a nice speaker setup, a $300+ card still doesn't make much sense in most cases.
Furthermore, since you are a gamer, it is very possible that you can lose out on a potential 15% increase in gaming performance by going with a $300+ card that is dedicated entirely to audio.
Now, if you have like a $300+ speaker setup and gaming is a much lower priority than good sounding audio, then maybe, just maybe, the $300+ card might be worth it. But you have to be the kind of audiophile that is OK with spending a couple hundred extra dollars just for maybe a 5% increase in quality on a high end HiFi setup, and don't care about gaming, then again, the $300+ card might be worth it.
But like I said, even if you are loaded with $$, keep in mind that you are a gamer. And if you are anything like most gamers, I would assume you would want something like the xtremegamer that will give you a performance boost as well as crystal clear audio.
Yeah, the xtremegamer does sound great even on my Sennheiser PX250 phones, and my 5.1 that I paid nearly as much for. I can't imagine a more expensive card being to improve things much further as things already sound pretty much perfect.
And for the price, it was a great purchase. Perfect for somebody that wants a good all around system, but isn't a dedicated audiophile, but is however a gamer and all around computer user.
Not saying you need to get an xtremegamer, although the X-fi series might be perfect for you, but I am saying you can likely meet your needs in that same $100-ish price range.
Don't know if this post helps at all. Depending on how familiar you are with sound cards and sound, maybe I just told you what you already know. But in case you aren't incredibly familiar, hopefully this helped you out.
Spending more $$ for certain things doesn't always make them the best choice, even without a budget. Usually, yes, but not always.
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