Does video card matter in overall pc performance?

[inorange]

needs:
i have a old vaio laptop that i use for universirty. i like it because its light (carbon fiber), and portable. but i recently had problems with it. i only need it to be fast,and i don't play video games. i also dont need to watch videos or store much on it, since i have a good desktop in my dorm.
Probelm:
After ugrading my Sony laptop to Windows 7, i found out that Nvidia ( 8400M GS ) does not offer drivers for my laptop. My sony laptop does allow me to use the CPU's video.
my pc very slow (no i dont have viruses): it take a while to turn on, and it runs very hot,
info:
vaio vgn sz650nhttp://www.uklv.info/g.gif
WEI: CPU=5.5, RAM=5.5 , Video(win)=3.4, Video(gam)=3.1, HDD=5.9
Ram= 6gb, HDD=500gb, cpu=core2 duo T7500 @ 2.20, WIndows 7 ultimate 64 bit
Question:
1: Does the low video performance affect my computer's overall performance?
2: Is there a way to get some support from nvidia?

[nibblitz]

Your Laptop isnt that old or decrepit.
Download the video driver from Sony support pages for your laptop..
Sony eSupport - VGN-SZ650N - Support (http://esupport.sony.com/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=VGNSZ650N)

Laptops with Nvidia GPU's in them generally do run quite hot and fan running constantly.. You might improve it if you cleared vents of any fluff buildup, I always say its best to dismantle and remove dust & fluff from the inside out, rather than do what lazy people do, and thats fire compressed air can into the vents from the outside..

[Reapers]

yes most components can affect your overall performance

cpu,motherboard,ram,graphics cards even your network connections
but it all depends on what your needs are really

if your just using basic apps like office a web browser stuff like that
then you usually dont require much.

as for drivers its best to get them from the manufacter as sometimes
some drivers are just for there series of laptop and 3rd party drivers can cause issues.

here is a link for your laptop support page.
(select your operating sytem on the left box and the driver type you want on the right)
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=VGNSZ650N&template_id=1?ion_id=1&tab=download#/downloadTab (http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=VGNSZ650N&template_id=1&region_id=1&tab=download#/downloadTab)

as for your slowness you mentioned you dont need virus's to slow your laptop down
if you update or add a lot of apps/software on it.then it will add up and sometimes
they can take a lot of cpu.

intergrated graphics can heat up when your using a lot of gpu or cpu and
when not ventalited properly can make them heat up also.

[alistairlee]

I have that video in my Dell Inspiron 1520 and got a driver fron Nvidia website no problem, give a Aero score of 3.5 for graphics on Win 7.
Al