Right now I have penciled in a Asus Xonar Essence STX but I am not sure if I need that good of a sound card. The only reason I had chosen that card is because it had a TOS-Link/Optical output and was compatible with Windows 7. I noticed that the Asus Xonar DX 7.1 card also had a TOS-Link/Optical output but said it was not compatible with Win7. But when I looked at at the driver download centre
ASUS - Sound & Multimedia Devices- ASUS Xonar DX
it had a driver for Win7.
So I guess I am asking if the Xonar DX 7.1 is compatible with Win7?
Also I will be using this for gaming (I am not a audiophile I do like good sound but not that good) and I have an Astro A40 headset I will be using for this rig, no speakers.