Skip the sound card altogether IMO.
The PCI Express X-Fi is actually a PCI Express Audigy SE - it has none of the hardware acceleration or anything that would make any difference, quality wise, your onboard will be better.
If you're avoiding Vista then the normal X-Fi's will be fine (avoiding the Xtreme Audio, same card as the PCIE version above).
The raptor's are stunning drives, but if you'd notice any real difference I don't know - the new 32mb cache drives from Samsung and Seagate are also very quick for a lot less money. I will however admit that if you're doing anything powerful application wise such as photoshop, video chopping etc, the extra speed a Raptor brings may well pay dividends.
Edit:
Just read last couple of posts : depends where in the world you are naturally, just been promoted (well not sure if that's the word - "thrown into the deep end with the entire engineering demands of our head office which used to comprise 4 people's full time jobs" is more accurate) so time is a tad tight - but if you're not too far than I'll certainly consider it
Of course failing that, there's bound to be someone locally you know who'll gladly chip in for the sake of a case of beer or something - and even failing that, we'll be happy to walk you through. The building is rarely difficult, but there's a few knacks that often make life easier and can extend the lifetime of the system.
) I get the impression a sound card would be needed as i can't see another way of going guitar>effects unit>PC (don't think USB is an option with my effects unit) :S
