I think my dedicated graphics card has failed or is failing?
I think about this weekend is when my issues started. I would be watching youtube videos and then out of the blue the computer just locks up with horizontal bars going across the screen and requires a hard reset to get it back working. I haven't installed anything nor have I done any firmware updates recently. I already tried two regular tests with the Apple Hardware Test and one extended test with it coming out with no issues. I already tried to reset the SMC and that hasn't fixed it. Plus i'm almost certain it's a hardware issue since when in windows it crashed as well. Windows gave me an error saying the driver has failed and it was able to recover, only to see a couple minutes later it completely locks up and i have to hard reset again. This is happening whether i'm using my external display or my internal one, and when i'm either in clamshell mode or not.
So far the temporary fix seems to be forcing my computer to use integrated graphics, which is fine for now, but i'd much rather get it fixed so i can use my external monitor again. If getting it fixed is going to cost nearly as much as buying a new MacBook pro, i might as well just buy a new MBP. I changed my energy saver settings for better battery life and gfxCardStatus is set to use integrated only.
This is an early 2011 15" MBP on 10.7.5. This one has the Intel HD 3000 Graphics and the AMD Radeon HD 6490M.
Here are pictures I took:
Ironically, in the second photo, it crashed as i was trying to look up information about this.
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)