Vaio Graphics card is messed up

Aight so I've got a Sony Vaio FE model. The screen, processor, ram, wifi, etc. all work well except the graphics card (geforce go 7600). I can get my computer working but only at a resolution of 640x480. If I go to display properties and increase the resolution, the screen shows a bunch of white lines all across for a second and then restarts.

Its very hard to use a pc at that resolution! Sometimes I can change it to 1280x800 if i get the computer hot enough (weird, i know) but then (i guess) as soon as it starts to cool down the screen goes blank (after some time it will go back to 640x480 in 8-bit colour mode and show a nvidia nv4 error) and then I usually hold the power button to turn it off cuz I don't want to wait for the nv4 error which takes 10-15 mins.

It seems like such a waste of nearly US $2000 because of a bad graphics card. Is there anyway to solve the problem? Has anyone else experienced a similar problem?

 

Sounds like you purchased this laptop quite a few years' ago looking at the graphics card.

It looks like either you need to reinstall the graphics card driver or the card itself is faulty.

If the reinstalling the drivers don't work, take it to Sony.

 

I have reformatted and reinstalled Windows a few times. I have also taken it to Sony. They're charging over US$600 (total) to replace the whole damn motherboard (nearly $300) and to fix some broken (minor) exterior parts (over $300). But they say it isn't recommended because the motherboard is "unstable" even though it seems to work fine (other than the gfx card of course).

Would laptop repair shops (i.e. not sony) be able to fix this hardware issue for a much lower (i.e. decent) price?

 

Doubt you will get it any cheaper mate since notebook motherboards are very, very, costly.

Might as well let that Vaio go and purchase a new one.