same thing here. i'm getting rid of my sblive/p4 to get an nforce/xp. i already have one nforce that i just love, and the sound is superb. my firend has an audigy platinum ex, and for games and music they sound just the same. i hooked them both up to my stereo, spdif and 1/8 plug run on hifi cables to a yamaha rx795a reciever/amp and to definitive bp6b tower speakers, and listened to a rather lengthy q3 match demo, a long tribes 2 match demo, and some mp3s, and i would give a slight edge to the nforce's sound, but for the most part they sounded identical. given that the msi nforce is a lot cheaper than an audigy + via kt333 or even kt266a, i'd be hard pressed to reccommend anything else but the nforce.