USD $1000 INCLUDING the video card and the 3 monitors? Or just the box? Most popular 23-inch LCD monitors are selling at $200-$250 each.
I would recommend a custom built system if you can find a good place that does one and includes the warranty. You want a quad core or i7 Intel CPU and motherboard. I would go with a dual video card, use ATI if possible to support the monitors, you need a big tower to support the card, they should be min 512 MB each. Custom cases should be available at a good store. I would go with a 500 GB hard drive, WD is pretty decent. Also, check out if Dell has any good deals on their higher end systems. Look to get at least 8 GB of RAM and Windows 7 Pro. Assuming you don't need wireless, go with a dedicated network card, that can be easily replaced if you have internet problems. I don't think you need better than 19" monitors.
Dell recently had serious quality problems on a large scale. So, I would hesitate to buy from them at this time. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/technology/29dell.html One of the cheapest ways to hook up 3 monitors to a computer is 2x "office" graphics cards supporting 2 monitors each. Choose either Nvidia NVS or ATI Multi-View. You don't even have to have 2x PCI-Express x16 ports. Some of the above cards (but not all of them-check the spec) work in PCI-E x4 port. There are reports of these not working in PCI-E x1 ports though... even though the spec may say PCI-E x1 is supported. Don't go for 4-monitor cards from the above product ranges: they are new, very few people are using them and a lot of issues are reported on Web forums. Also a 4-monitor card is substantially more expensive than two 2-monitor cards. Another option is to get one of the ATI 5750 cards. Most of these (but check individual spec) support 3 monitors.
Buy the cheapest one you can find with the most complete guarantee. There is no big quality difference if you don't work for Pixar and by the time it fals apart computer speed will have doubled and prices halved once more.
This particular issue must be gone as the motherboard in question is no longer produced. However, the attitude that puts low cost above sufficient quality must be tougher to change than discontinue one product. Especially, after margins in computer manufacturing further declined in recent years. If you search these froums for "Dell", you'll see lots of member having all kinds of problems. Of course, there are occasional complaints about virtually any product... but pay special attention to where the whole line of products was found having defective components. Aanyway, the point of my original post was to point out that just a few years ago Dell had issues with quality control rooted in its institutional culture. These problems may or may not have been resolved since then. So, I advised caution. Dell to recall millions of faulty laptops Join the Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC recall (this concerns the most recent product) Fire Hazard Prompts Gigantic Dell Laptop Battery Recall Pay attention to the divercity of components found faulty in the past: exploding capacitors in desktop matherboards, overheating laptop motherboards, laptop batteries presenting fire danger etc... The reason you won't see conclusive information about recent products is legal action takes years... and the Dell are not a company that offers to replace all components found to be faulty on their own accord. So, we'll know if things have improved only in a few years.
thgank u guys for your answers but i would likt to have a for idiot answer. i mean mobo is: processor is: video card is: eccc.... total is < 1000 usd it is excluded monitors. thanx