  We present an analysis of low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and globular
clusters (GCs) in five galaxies using Chandra, and HST data. Of the 186 LMXBs
within the optical fields 71 are in GCs, confirming that LMXBs are formed
particularly efficiently in GCs. However, there is no statistically significant
correlation between the distance of a GC from the center of its host galaxy and
its LMXB hosting probability. Metal-rich GCs are 3.4 times more likely to host
LMXBs than metal-poor ones. Intriguingly, the LMXBs in NGC 1399 are
preferentially in the reddest GCs of the metal-rich subsystem. This indicates
that the red peak of the color distribution itself encompasses GCs with a range
of enrichment histories. The strength of this effect varies from galaxy to
galaxy, possibly indicating differences in their metal-enrichment histories.
Field LMXBs in our program galaxies are more concentrated towards the center of
their host galaxies than GC-LMXBs. This suggests that a majority of field LMXBs
are formed in situ and have not escaped from current GCs. This is consistent
with previous specific frequency based studies. The brightest LMXBs in GCs
appear to be preferentially associated with luminous, metal-rich clusters. We
show that it is probable that some of these GCs host multiple bright LMXBs,
while the probability is much lower for metal-poor GCs. This implies that LMXBs
in more metal-rich cluster systems should reveal a longer high luminosity X-ray
tail, and show less X-ray variability than metal-poor cluster populations.
(abridged)
