linux virgin

Took a while to get back I have got a ATI radeon 9000 series graphics card it is a pci type, and a mitac 17inch tft monitor, I have pnp enabled in the bios. I have had problems with windows on the same hard drive so ended up re-ghosting the disk with no linux on it but don't worry it is in a caddy and I have another disk to put linux on which should make things a bit simpler I think. The question is what should I do at the end of the setup when it asks about graphics card or should I download some drivers first. Thanks for your help so far please, please keep assisting me.

can anyone please help? I installed mandrake 9.2 off the three cds rebooted the pc as instructed pc starts up and attempts to boot into linux (I can't select anything else as it won't let me use my usb keyboard at this point) it then starts going through all its checks for about a minute the monitor then flashes on and off then off and stays off. This happens on the radeon graphics card and when I switch back to the on board graphics. I would be grateful of any help you can give me as I am a total novice with linux. and would love to be able to put my windows in the bin.