LinuxQuestions.org - Can't Get Any Linux Distros Installed on DeskTop

Newbie Dave with 1st question on this site. I'm completely new to Linux, Long time W7 user. I have a Compaq Presario model cq5210f DT at home. 5 Yrs old, 3 GB Ram and 500 GB internal HD with plenty of free space. It works just fine! I wanted to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on a completely empty external 1 TB harddrive. I wanted to keep Windows 7 on my internal HD and use Ubuntu from the external HD to learn it.
I installed the iso to a flashdrive and all went well but My monitor would turn black with white hypens all over it all the time. I've also downloaded some other Linux distros such as Mint, Elemtentary OS, ArchLinux etc. All went well but my monitor would freeze up all the time before setup was complete. I've been reading where Linux doesn't do well with certain Nvida video cards. My video card is a Nvida GeForce 6150se nforce 430. Have others in the forum had the same trouble.
I also have a Toshiba laptop at home running W10. I also tried to install Ubuntu on an external drive with the laptop and it installs and boots up perfectly each time. I press f12 at bootup to go into either W10 or Ubuntu and everything just works great!!! Should I give up with the desktop? I will be getting a new basic desktop at the end of the year any suggestions as to mfg for a basic unit that does Linux well would be appreciated! - Tks so much, David