Video Card Woes: Follow Up
So the Dell technician came around today to take a look at my lappy. He took it apart, poked and prodded here and there and then called me over.
As it turns out, it seems like it really had nothing to do with the video card. He showed me the CPU’s exhaust/heatsink which had a thick layer of dust which was preventing the entry/escape of hot air. I was amazed at how much dust it collected. It fully looked like a bit of fur coating or something. 
Anyways, after he showed me, he said that though that’s was the most likely cause of the overheating problem, he would still replace the parts since he had them here anyways. I was like, “Yeah sure, go ahead!” I mean why not, right? 
I actually wish I’d brought my camera to work so I could’ve taken some happy snaps of my lappy all spread out over the desk, and the dust-burger on the heatsink, but alas, I left my camera at home since I’m waiting for the case I purchased to arrive. 
So anyways, he went about his task of installing the new components and putting everything back together again, then once it was all solid again went on to test it by turning it on and running it for about 15-20 minutes. He then made me sign the receipt and went on about his day.
Video Card Woes
So the other day a dude I work with, Sam, told me I should up the refresh rate on the 2nd monitor I have set up at work which I connect my Dell Inspiron 9400 17” laptop to. So, being the curious geeky always-wanting-better performance customizer that I am, I happily obliged. And all seemed well…
A few days later things started going south. After a few hours of normal use, the CPU use jumped up to 100% and didn’t show any signs of subsiding. 
I fiddled around as best I could on a system running at top speed (which ironically slows it down to a crawl), killing processes and frantically trying to ascertain what could possibly be causing such slowdown but alas, I could find no reason or rhyme.
Looking through the Task Manager I could find no process using anywhere near 100% of the CPU so I figured it must have been something else. I even downloaded Process Explorer from Microsoft TechNet, which provides detailed information on processes and other information, but could still find no culprit!
After several days of this kind of behaviour from my computer and hours spent on troubleshooting, I remembered that I upped the refresh rate on the monitor and figured that could be a possible cause.
Turning down the refresh rate helped, but the PC continued to experience slowdowns. I got the bright idea to turn off the dual monitor support and that stopped the CPU drain completely. So I’m left to conclude that the video card on my little beast is dying. 
Luckily, a quick review of my Dell warranty plan revealed that I still have over 6 months warranty left! 
So I emailed them today telling them about my problem. Hopefully, they’ll come around and get it fixed this week so I can do some actual work. 