blown video card

I know more about software than I do hardware (as you’ll see in a min.) I have a friend whose monitor quit working. When he took his HP in to be fixed, he was told that video card was “blown” and that the software his kids use is too powerful and was the cause of the “blow out” of his video card. He was, of course, advised to buy a “bigger-faster-jump higher” video card (64 bit instead of 32 bit) and pay for the difference. Buying a better video card may have been a good thing to do but the question we have is whether a video game or music-maker software can actually ruin a card.

Thanks for the help