I know there rarely is never a "best" computer part, but what would be the best choice for under 200$? I see the creative xi-fi extreme gamer and the xi-fi titanium are identical in price but which one would be best? I play a lot of games, and listen to a lot of music and watch movies maybe blue ray eventually and I am an audiophile.
there is also the asus sound card do they have anything compared to the quality of a crystilyzer? and plus one day I would like vista so in that case it would seem creative would not be the choice for that.

if you're serious about audio, take a look at m-audio's sound cards. i've heard good things about them.

and while we are on the subject, what speakers would take advantage of a good sound card I dont want to spend anymore than 400 for 5.1 and I see the logitech e5500 but with a good sound card you wouldnt need the extra digital decoding would you? do they have a 5.1 set with exceptional audio without the digital decoding hardware?

what reciever, interface, and speakers?

in terms of actual quality, logitech speakers suck

Honestly, you will get a much better answer over at hydrogenaudio. Its the equivilent of doom9 for audio

i would agree, but my FW1814 seems to be real noisy. I think it might be something to do with the internal clock. General problem throughout that line from what i've heard.

Anyho, I'd go with anything to do with RME, maybe slightly expensive, but you'll be spending thousands upon thousands of your hard earned cash to get anything noticeably better.

For speakers, there isn't a whole lot out there that is truly good quality for computers. Logitech makes some stuff that's great for powerful bass, and fairly inexpensive speakers, but it is not anywhere even close to true clarity.

M-audio makes some stuff that looks decent - I don't have any experience with it though.

If i were you i'd steer clear of PC speakers. What kinda budget do you have? I'd be able to price you up a decent surround/stereo system.