Setup as a stand alone solution, the Devil HDX gets to play in the best of both worlds with 124dB rated performance from the parent card and the option of running 7.1 sound through the addition of the daughter card. Here is my only beef with the Devil HDX. I know these are options that add cost, but when cultivating a brand it would just add to the package. I would have liked to see the ribbon cables sleeved to get out of the early days when ribbon cable were the bane of a good looking high end build. The same goes for the daughter card. Shrouding the components with a shroud seen on the parent card would just complete the look of the package, much like PowerColor did on the Devil 13.