in the back of my dell, it has a moniter port, and 3 "empty slots" with the metal covering the opening. would that be where i'd plug in the PCI card. also, the PCI card that the other guy suggested has a vga and dvi port on it, plus my moniter port on the dell, so would I be able to hook up 3 screens? and since the dual moniters i have are both VGA, i'd have to by an adapter that converted the DVI port into VGA correct? thank you

also are used cards trustworthy?
VisionTek RADEON-9250 PCI DUAL DVI/VGA FULL HEIGHT/LOW PROFILE VIDEO CARD: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag

Hi Jsquad,

Yes the 3 empty slots at the back of the PC. You would need to open your case to access them. The white slots Genie showed you are the PCI slots, and just before them will be your blanking plates. Remove the blanket plate. Carefully remove the card from its antistatic bag, being careful not to touch any of it's components (just the edges). The card will slot into any one of your PCI slots.

Once you finish, and end up with 3 VGA ports, the old one is very much different in make, model and speed. You can connect 3 monitors to it, but you will not be able to extend your desktop onto the three.

If you can afford it, buy new, but as long as you have a company that will accept returns, you'll be ok. You wouldn't believe how many new cards I've bought, and have not worked from the very beggining.

you said
"the old one is very much different in make, model, and speed. . .you will not be able to extend your desktop onto the three"
what did you mean?

the Visiontek RADEON-9250 PCI Card that you suggested, has a VGA and DVI port i believe, so are you counting the 3rd VGA port as the DVI converted? and could you give me a link to a efficient converter? thanks

Sorry, with the card, it comes with two ports (VGA and DVI). The ability to share your desktop between them is easy because all the hardware is together on a single card. The old onboard VGA is different altogether, and will not be able to work with your additional card. This means that you can plug all three in, and swap desktops between the monitors, you will not be able to move your cursor across three screens. If you want to share your desktop on three screens, you would have to buy a card with 3 ports on it instead of 2. Does this make sense? There are alternative options, no necessarily cheaper, but more complicated, so I won't confuse you by listing these.

The adaptors normally comes with the card, but just in case:
Adaptor: DVI Analog Male / VGA (HD15) Female
DVI to VGA Converters - DVG to VGA converters, DVI-D to analog VGA converter box

perfect sense. do you know of a Visiontek Radeon PCI card that comes with 3 ports or another brand just as good. i'm looking myself but you know way more than I do about this and such, jus lookin for the better deal. thanks