Bought a new computer with PCIe slots without realizing they aren't compatible with PCI soundcards, so my E-mu 1820m sound card does not fit. Are there adapters that will solve my problem? If so, how much money, are they reliable, and where do I get 'em?

Yes you can. A Soundblaster Audigy FX would work. Be careful to get a PCIe card, and not the older style PCI card. Your PC ships with several free PCIe slots.
2 (total) / 1 (free) x PCIe 2.0 x16
1 (total) / 1 (free) x PCIe x4
1 (total) / 1 (free) x PCIe 2.0 x1

You should install the sound card in the PCIe 2.0 x1 slot if possible. If not any of the others should work as well.

open the case up then pull a slot out of the case then put it in put screw in card slot then power up then put in drivers for card

Simple answer: Yes, provided that you have a free PCI slot in your Acer. The E-MU 1010 PCI controller board is the only controller that will work with an 1820. The PCIe version will not work an one or both may be damaged if you try.
Do not expect to get anything close to good latency from an old computer. If your Acer is a P4 or an equivalent AMD or newer you should be fine.

This model only has 1 PCI express 1x slot. So any sound card that uses a PCIe 1x slot. Just google "audio card pcie 1x". This computer has built-in sound so not sure why you want another card.

If I'm interpreting what you are saying correctly it sounds like you are either trying to use the on board network connector on your mother board to connect to a Audio Dock, or you are using the wrong kind of Audio dock together with your PCI or PCIe E-MU card.
Scenario 1: You'll most likely fry the network connector and the Audio dock or if you are really lucky only one of them. Fingers crossed that it's the cheaper of the two that goes.
Scenario 2: The 1616/1616m will only work with the PCIe version of the controller card from E-MU. The 1820/1820m will only work with the PCI version of the controller board.
Again, if you are lucky your hardware is still functional, but I wouldn't bet on it. Combining the wrong controller with the wrong Dock will most likely smell a bit funny after a while.
The PCI version of the controller board provides power to the whole 1820 and considering how hot the docks can get you can bet that it's quite a lot of current that is provided.
I've tried to figure out the pinout of the EDI-connector and there's a 48VDC going into the dock's onboard PWM-regulator. This is apparently generated from a floppy-power connector providing an additional source of 12VDC to the step-up PWM on the controller board.

Do not put a PCI-e card in a PCI slot. It will not fit and the card won't work. The PCI card has 58 or 60 pins on each side with the slot (62 pins would be present if not for the key notches for alignment). PCIe 16x cards have 32 pins.

There are adapters to put a PCI card in a PCIe 1x slot (will fit any PCIe slot) or a PCIe1x card in a PCI slot. See http://www.amfeltec.com/index.php for a sample of the adapters. For the PCIe 16x cards, you need a new motherboard.

If you are placing a PCI-e 16x card in a PCIe 16x slot or a PCI card in a PCI slot, then open the side of your case. Locate the matching slot (remove the current card) or an empty slot depending on your motherboard. Depending on the case, you may need to remove a screw to remove the old card. Wiggle the card straight up to remove it. If you are putting in a new card, you will need to remove the cover from the slot. (For some larger PCIe 16x cards, you need to remove the adjacent slot cover as well.) Some covers just pull straight up or pry a lever up and then pull; for others, you will need to use a screwdriver to break the cover out. Make sure there is sufficient room near the slot for the card. (You may need to move other cards around.)

Then line up the card so that the back of the card will fit into the opening and the contacts on the bottom of the card are above the center of the slot. Firmly press the card down into the slot without changing the alignment. You may need to wiggle it (press down on the back and front, alternatingly). Then make sure the card is fully seated. Attach the addtional power cord from your power supply, if needed for a PCIe 16x card.

Close your case. Then if this is a new video card, turn on the computer and enter the BIOS (press F1, F2, F10, Esc depending on the machine). Disable the on-board video. Then reboot the computer and load the drivers you need for the card.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

No, you can't use a PCIe x16 card in any of the slots on the P5VDC-MX board. A PCIe x16 card can't fit into the PCIe x1 slot. Attempting to force a PCIe x16 card into the PCIe X1 slot will break the card or bend the pins. A PCIe x1 card will work in a PCIe x4, x8 or x16 slot, though. Similarly, the AGP and PCI slots are not compatible with the PCIe x16 card design.

I wish that I had better news for you.

Cindy Wells

The Peripheral Component Interconnect or more commonly known as PCI is a standard for connecting a lot of devices inside your computer to extend its capabilities. Devices like sound cards, modems, NIC, TV Tuners, and some video cards have at some point or another have used the PCI port.
PCI express ( PCI-E ) is a much improved version in terms of speed. PCIe uses a serial interface instead of the old parallel interface used by PCI. It also utilizes individual buses for each of the devices connected to it instead of a shared one like what PCI uses. The difference in speed is quite huge when comparing the standard PCI slot which runs at 133MB/s to a 16 slot PCIe that can send or receive up to 16GB/s.

The most common use for PCIe nowadays is with graphics cards which benefits hugely from the huge bandwidth provided by the interface.
1. PCIe is much faster compared to PCI.
2. PCIe uses a serial interface while PCI uses a parallel interface.
3. PCIe speed is classified into lanes, each capable of delivering up to 1GB/s data transfer.
4. PCI slots are standardized while PCIe slots vary depending on the number of lanes the slot is intended for.
5. Despite PCIe superiority, most manufacturers still use the PCI standard for their devices.

Unlike PCI slots which are the same size for all devices, PCIe slots can differ depending on which form factor it accepts. The longest would be the 16 lane slot and understandably, the shortest is for the x1 devices.

I hope this much information is enough for you to understand the difference between both of them. If you need any more help let me know.. !

It is easy to get the PCI & PCIE stuff mixed up. PCI slots are all white doesn't matter who makes the board. PCIE however is all together different from a PCI slot. The PCIE slot sits fauther away from the back of the computer & so does a AGP. PCIE is a very long card. A PCI is not. The short slot you saw is also a PCIE slots. Not for video but more likely for network card. Most people never use them. Most likely the long slot above the short slot is a PCIE. So you want a card that is like what I'm going to list in this link.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=1559&Nav=|c:1558|&Sort=0&Recs=10
Please list the model number of your Dell & I can tell you exactly what video card you need.
please vote... I'll check back in an hour or two.