Computer works, but no picture.
 

So about 2-3 days ago, I lost all picture with my pc. Monitor showed signs is was fading and then poof, black. I get about a second of picture when I turn it off and turn it back on, then goes to black. Called my buddy who built my rig and he says that my graphics card is on it's last legs.

Drivers were all up to date, fan is spinning on the card. It's a Radeon 5870 HD. Top of the line 3 years ago. Didn't think I would have a problem this early.

Any insight would be great. Right now, I'm looking at spending almost $700 for a new card. Don't expect an immediate response from me. I'm currently borrowing my brother's laptop when he ain't around.

Thanks in advance.

Does the computer have an integrated VGA port on the main motherboard? You could take the card out and try connecting that to the monitor to see what happens.

Nope.

Connect the laptop to the monitor to confirm the monitor is ok. Worst case- Get the 7970's from Newegg or something for $300. They are still ridiculously fast and definitely better than spending more than twice that on an nVidia 780.

Monitor's fine. First thing I did was grab my old backup monitor and plugged that in.

Well it could be both monitors went bad, I know it is very unlikely but eliminate every possibility starting from the cheapest to replace.