Graphics card problem

*Kinda long because im not sure of exact problem**

Ok to start off I have a dell E1705 with 1GB Ram and the Nvidia Geforce Go 7900 card. When I first got the laptop I updated the graphics driver and started playing Oblivion. After about 3 weeks or so of oblivion I started up the game and I noticed the graphics artifacts showing up all over the screen. So I messed around with the game settings a bit tried downloadin different drivers and i finally got the game to run properly. Then the artifacts started showing up again when i casted invisiblity, recieved damage, or was near an oblivion gate or an area with a large amount of fire.
After all those problems with oblivion I started to notice artifacts showing up when i surfed the web or tried to watch a movie or video clip. Now any game I see artifacts showing up. Just recently started City of Heroes and it they were showing up all over the place.
Does anyone know what I could do to fix these problems because it is really annoying me?

 

Your card may be overheating. Try and clean out your vents and, and make sure that the intake and output vents arnt covered. If you do all that and it still does it call dell. If your card is broken, which it might be, then you'll have to get a new notebook. If its still under warranty dell will replace it for free. You could just transfer hard drives then and it would be fine.

 

What is the best way to clean out the vents? Just wipe em off?

 

compressed air

if you've never done it, you would be better off opening it up and then blowing out the dust with compressed air

you should do this every 2 weeks/month

 

The easiest, cheapest and most effective way I've found in cleaning the vents is by using your vacuum cleaner. Simply use the brush attachment.