X-Fi rock. Sound quality is top. Problem is make sure its your creative lab's card is compatible with your mobo board. If not you just waisted that cash.
Example... nForce boards aren't compatible with X-fi cards...
Vista also doesn't like X-fi unless your using XP.
I've used my X-Fi elite pro on my old rig when I had XP and then switched to Vista. That was my first mistake. You loose alot of feature that makes gaming great.
Second was buying a new rig with nforce board which included a X-Fi extreme music card and its not compatible... damb dell for that one.
Long story short do your research first.
Goodluck
WH