Bad video card?

I have a late model 2008 MBP and it has for a long time had a flickering screen. Would a bad video card cause this issue? Sometimes the whole screen flickers, sometimes its a portion. And most of the time its when the computer is under load. I put the computer for better performance and it happened less. Then turned back to better battery life for school since I can't plug it in and it happens frequently again.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, Kyle

Sounds like it. Could be related to the faulty Nvidea chips which Apple has extended the warranty for. See MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues

Just to be sure, have you tried with a an external monitor to rule out the inverter?
If the display is fine with an external monitor, than it's not the chip.

Ihave run the computer into a tv without an issue if that counts?

If it's not happening with an external display, it suggests that it's not the graphics chip, however, since it is happening under load, it suggests that it is. (Sounds bizarre I know!)
Since it is the model in which there were faulty cards, I would contact Apple to book it in to have it tested.

It depends what you mean by "flicker". The actual graphics data, or just the backlight? Does your LCD ever have a reddish hue?

When I say flicker the screen turns off completely with a split second. Actually happens so fast first few times I saw it, it seemed like I just blinked and that was issue. But kept happening so has made me nervous. Doesn't effect performance but seems weird and I want it right. I already had it in the a tech place to get looked at and it couldn't find anything.

LCD's have two parts - the actual LCD part that displays the images, and a bright backlight that makes it visible. The backlight is either CCFL or LED depending on your model.

The first thing to check would be if it's the backlight. Which might be difficult given how fast the duration is. You'd need to have a very bright flashlight handy, and see if the entire LCD goes blank, or just the backlight. The former will show a dark LCD, but you will still see things on your screen, while the latter will be a totally blank screen - identical to if you shined the light on the screen while the power was off.

I'm not sure how this will help you, but at least it narrows down what might be failing.