I have some kind of middle priced card, but since I use a GI 10 with a midi guitar, a sansamp, and cubase VST, I can actually record CDs in my basement.
The card is only an element of your sound, so think that your sound will be as good as the weakest link in the chain. Having a 2000 bucks card and recording with some guitar with old strings will make you sound bad. Think about it
You can check out some sounds I get on my site
http://lalimace.free.fr