i use the creative x-fi xtremegamer. it's pretty decent. i had some troubles with drivers for some odd unknown reason, but i think that's cause i'm such a noob. i think you'd be satisfied with the soundcard, though.
no no... creative are the best for gaming... the titanium will be good... you might want to consider other cards for non-gaming applications.. like running a recording studio..
anyway, the auzentech cards are also very nice... and they use creative X-fi technology. I love my Auzentech X-fi Prelude... it is very similar to the titanium.
hope i get that forte soon. might make an unboxing. it should be the same as the prelude only smaller. also good choice on the titanium. only problem i have with creative cards is that mine increased my boot time by 5 minutes becuase of the shitty drivers.
I use the Diamond XTreme sound 7.1 Audio card... it's great..I also think a few members use the little brother version..30$ at staples, 50 at newegg, and the little brother runs 20 at both.I did an unboxing of mine awhile backhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oufNIcIv5iU
I have heard that the x-fi forte doesn't do nearly as good as the X-fi prelude. I am not sure why... and I have never used it... but that seems to be what a lot of reviews are saying.