XPS M1710 Screen/Boot issues

Ok well i have had this laptop for almost 4 years now and have had virtually no problems, apart from the screen needing to be replaced after a few months (common fault at the time).

I went to switch it on the other day and it seemed to do nothing, powered on, num lock light illuminated, as well as a few flashes from the data transfer light and then nothing, just not booting.

I did the typical error fixes, unplug everything and hold the power for 10 seconds, before replacing the battery and trying again and still nothing more happened.

Did a bit of searching online and found the suggestion to try an external screen. So plugged in the external screen the turned it on and presses FN button and F8 to switch the output and it came up but with loads of weird numbers and symbols all over the place. I could also get it to load windows and enter into safe mode, but still with loads of strange markings on the background.

From what i can see online this suggests a video card failure, can someone confirm or suggest something else?