Best?
There is no "best" anyway at a price point. There are variations of features and sounds (to a lesser extent).
At a studio I work at, we have a $2400 Focusrite Red 8 preamp. It KILLS for drum overheads, acoustic guitars, and occasionally on vocals. But for guitars, the $500 ART Pro MP kills it!
I have never had to work on a $300 mic preamp/soundcard solution, so I don't have much to offer as far as experience of what to buy. But, you are SURE to get some "opinions" on what people, based on what they own. Don't confuse that with what is "best". One guy is going to say brand x is the best, another guy is going to say brand y is best. It is a pretty good bet that brand x guy has NEVER tried brand y, and vice versa. So, take it all with a grain of salt.
Find the unit that has proven to be dependable, has good drivers, and has all the features you require. After that, it is just DIFFERENCES that are probably not either good or bad .
Good luck.