My buddy owns an a Creative Fatal1ty (whatever the one just below the most expensive one is), and I must say, even on a halfway decent speaker system (He had Logitech X-540s) you WILL notice a difference. It blew away his circa 2004 Creative 24 Bit Live! card. It is crisper, more vibrant, and EAX is always a really nice feature. He's a non-audiophile (unlike me), and he noticed it, so what does that tell you. I would say no to the Asus simply because I've recently had a bad experience with ASUS sound expansion cards, and I wouldn't be suprised if those problems went up to higher level cards. EAX does make a huge difference, you should definitely play it with it turned both on and off to hear what you are missing. A good example would be walking through a room with ambient sound, you'll hear the difference. (The first game I ever noticed the difference in was Star Wars: Battlefront 2 in the Death Star level.)
It really comes down to how much you want to pay. If you've got money to spend, and you must have the best, go with the Fatal1ty, you won't be disappointed if you're an audiophile. Otherwise spend the money somewhere else.
