Flash Before Replace?

Hi all. I got so much good help on the last problem I had I thought of you all immediately.

A classmate of mine has an HP/Compaq Presario CQ60. The heat issues related to the CQ series are notorious, and I think it has claimed another victim here. When the machine is booted up, I see a series of colored screens but no POST. Ever. I see black, then grey, red, green, blue, grey, black, a screen that transitions from black on the right to white on the left but only about 4/5 of the screen displays this and the remaining 1/5 is a solid black bar finally it transitions up and down with black on top and white on the bottom. I keep using the word transitions because honestly I can't remember the term right off hand. It is a static screen but the colors fade into one another as one looks from the right to the left of the screen or the top to the bottom. Anyway... this continues and continues and I have yet to see it POST, let alone get to the OP sys.

It seems as though the video processor on the motherboard has let go, and I theorize that the colors I see are the possibly the BIOS running a system diagnostic, but I am really not sure. She was experiencing the usual heat-lock up that these machines present, but two weeks ago it refused to even POST. So... my question is this: Should I even bother attempting to flash the BIOS on this machine, or would it be better to just go ahead and replace the motherboard and be done with it? In all seriousness I think I know what needs to be done, but I wanted to hear from the experts first.

Thanks all.