Help! m1330 RTD? I think I have a failing GPU

[UPDATE: Dell actually extended the GPU warranty by a year so I was able to get XPS technical support even though my warranty was over. They're letting me send my laptop to their depot to get it fixed for free. ]

I'm really disappointed with the quality of my m1330. One year ago, I purchased this laptop for over 2,000 dollars and the it has already racked up a huge history of needing repairs:

2nd week- mobo replaced
3rd week- m1330 replacement
This summer- mobo fried, thus replaced

And now just yesterday, I think I'm getting the symptom of a failing nvidia GPU. (NOT completely failed yet there yet because my computer will still work some of the time...like right now, I typed all this using my m1330...)
At first, my computer screen would just get all flashy, spazzy, squarish at parts, and wiggly, flashing grains (I really don't know how to explain it..I've gotten the vertical lines problem once or twice) and then it would restart
OR
It would recover from it and I would get this message: Display Driver Stopped Responding and Has Recovered
and then a few minutes later, it would all happen again

This just started happening yesterday and it continued to happen today
I've tried updating the gpu driver, uninstalling it, etc. and it's still a problem.

My dell xps service warranty just expired last month so the only thing I have is the Return to Depot service.
If I understand correctly, I'll have to call dell, pay 50 dollars for the diagnostic charge, then ship my laptop to them and they'll ship it back in a week...and they'll incur costs of replaced parts? I'm afraid they might charge me a ton for replacing the mobo or gpu or whatever they need to replace.

Should I call them and do the RTD service? I don't really have any other options.

Thanks in advance guys and happy holidays,
Freelancer

 

Well, if its saying the Display Driver Stopped Responding, that means it a driver problem, not defective problem.

Even though you have done it, make sure you have the latest drivers, or uninstall completely again, then install latest drivers from www.nvidia.com

 

Display Driver Stopped Responding could be a sign of impending GPU failure, as it was in my case.

 

Oh, ok. I may be wrong then.

 

didnt dell extend the warranty a year on these gpu failures??

 

I've heard something like that...I hope that's true
Doesn't that mean I can call them up and get the RTD service free?
I really hope I don't have to spend more than I've already spent on this computer.


Freelancer

 

Yes they did:

http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/...ate-limited-warranty-enhancement-details.aspx



But... since there's nothing "Official" I don't know if Dell will honor that.

.