I believe he has the monitor set to the native res (1680x1050) and I know he has the latest drivers. I believe he is using VGA (although I'm not sure), but it seems that his problem is worse than a little less sharp display.
I have the exact same computer and monitor as my friend, but I have a 7600 GT and it works fine on my computer. He seems to think the problem is a flaw in his motherboard, is this a concern?