Because with rebate the asus sound card was only 15 bucks I got it anyways. Personally I think it does sound better than the realtek onboard one. Even with my non-audiophile ears. Hopefully that is not just me justifying the money.
So I was experimenting with different settings and trying out the surround while testing the mod. I did like the atmosphere, so to speak, but made it harder to discern were sounds were coming from exactly. However maybe there are other settings that allow me to fine tune the effect. I can choose 2-4-6-8 speakers but thats about it, not including the various digital effects. For 3D games it recommended 8 so I stuck with that.