I have a santa cruz card, and though it sounds great, I absolutely HATE it at this point. I, too, cannot shut down or restart. And every time I play CounterStrike, about 5 minutes in the sound skips and my who system locks up. It's great to know someone else is in the same boat as myself. I don't think I've had any problems with CS, but I don't play it that much - however I do play TFC and now Firearms quite a lot.
Nothing is overclocked.
That's what really frustrates me. Yes, I realize that the number of possible hardware configurations is virtually unlimited, but the problems you and I are having ARE rather big. I'll be interested in hearing what your hardware specs are. We're going to do a mega sound card roundup at Review Zone. I'd like to know your opinions on those products.