CPU - Intel Core i7 920 - 4.0ghz
RAM - 6GB (3x2GB) OCZ platinum DDR3 1333mhz
Motherboard - Biostar T-Power x58
Graphics card - Gainward GTX 260 216 896MB
Power Supply - Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W
Hard Drive - Samsung F1 320GB
Western Digital Caviar WD3200AAKS 320GB
Drivers - ForceWare 196.12
Speakers - AEGO M 2.1

Sound cards

ASUS Xonar DS 7.1
ASUS Xonar D2
Creative X-Fi Xtrememusic

How I Tested

Rather than going through a number of benchmarks with numbers that really don't mean much, I'll give a more subjective description of the quality based on comparisons with other sound cards I have used. A number of games will be tested and music tracks.