I have recently built a computer system, old sound card not fully compatable with XP OS. I read some good things about Terratec DMX
6fire, and some bad. Any advise or direct experience with this sound board
would be appreciated.

No personal experience with this card, but it does get good reviews, you may also want to look at the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 and the Pure Digital SonicXplosion.