$400!?!?  Are they out of their minds?  A Radeon 9700tx isn't worth $150.

 

I'm assuming this system is out of warrenty?  If so, you can use almost any card that's AGP 4x or 8x.  (The only real limitation is that the $500 cards like the Radeon x800XT draw too much power).

 

Assuming it really is the video card that's the problem, throwing in a new one should fix it.

 

Do you use this system to game?  If so, you might want to look at a card that would be a big upgrade.  A Geforce 6600GT starts at $230, and is an exceptional mid-range card (far better than the Radeon 9700tx you've apperently got now).  There are several good options for less money than that, but the 6600GT offers the best bang for the buck.  (The Geforce 5900XT starts at $180ish, and the 5700 and Radon 9600 lines start at around $100, although they're getting older now).

 

If you don't care about games at all, then there's a huge range of cards you can get for even less than $100.

I don't game, but I use the system to run Pro/Engineer CAD software, which is (somewhat) similarly graphics intensive. 

 

I am probably looking in the <$200 range.

 

How do I get the computer ready for the new card if I can't get the display to work?  If it is the video card that is bad, will it work just by plugging in a working card?

 

Sorry for the repeated question, I am just not sure that I understand your answer.

Since you're using CAD stuff, you probably want to stick with an Nvidia card.  Their OpenGL support is much better than ATi's, both on their "consumer" cards and their "professional" cards.

 

Unfortunatly I don't think there's much you can do to get the computer ready for a new card.  Ordinarily you want to completly uninstall the old video drivers before installing the new card, but if your old card is totally dead, that's obviously not an option.

I think the best you can do is swap to the new card, boot the computer, and then start Windows in safe mode by pressing F8 before the Windows splash screen.  If you're lucky, the computer will start okay in safe mode, you'll be able to uninstall the old card's drivers, reboot, and then download the new card's drivers.  (Might want to use drivercleaner too.)

 

As for what card to get, if you're looking at "consumer" level cards for <$200, you'd probably want a Geforce 5900xt which starts around $180 on Newegg.com, or a Geforce 5700 which goes for under $150.  Both unfortunatly probably cost more at retail stores.

My computer currently has a Radeon 9700 TX in it, which is probably why they are pushing me to replace it with the same.  The system is out of warranty.

 

I don't have access to another video card for troubleshooting. 

 

The thing that is throwing me off is that I am not getting any BIOS error beeps when booting.  Shouldn't I get an error if the video card is bad?? 

 

I have read about people using DVI to VGA adapters.  Where would I get this?  I guess that I can at least see if it is just the VGA interface before dropping $200.