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I have a Lenovo T500, and my applications are scrambled sometimes (with the Intel GPU). Is there a way to fix this, or the GPU is dying?

Tried downloading a new MHD4500 driver from the Intel website, it said: I should contact the vendor. Sure I did, I downloaded the System Update software from Lenovo. But it doesn't show any new drivers available for the Intel GPU.

(It's got an Intel MHD4500 (integrated) and an ATI 3650M (discrete) GPU.)

Spicing up the default and boring look of HWiNFO with some hardcore effects.

Awesome skin for Chrome, sponsored by Intel

Explorer's top bar with some cool colors

When I do a restart, I get no problems for a while or at all. Is it heat, that kills the GPU's normal drawing?:

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I tried running Furmark, to make some heat (only wanted to run it for a very short time, like 10-20 seconds), but I get an error message.

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The PC is quite cold, and I didn't run anything CPU/GPU intensive lately. Though, I used the ATI card recently, because the laptop was plugged in. Now I just want less noise and heat. – Shiki Jan 28 '12 at 21:08
Do you see this condition outside of windows, like on the BIOS loading, or windows loading screens? – zackrspv Jan 28 '12 at 21:17
No, and I think I found the solution. So far, so good. – Shiki Jan 28 '12 at 21:22
I was wrong, removed the wrong answer. I thought F.lux caused the problem. But after removing it, I still get the scrambled windows and stuff. – Shiki Jan 28 '12 at 21:28
@zackrspv - Only in Windows. (yet?) – Shiki Jan 28 '12 at 21:28
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1 Answer

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This is typical of connection problems between the GPU and the motherboard. Repeated heating and cooling cycles cause the connections between the motherboard and the die in the GPU to crack (usually in what's called the "bump underfill"). Often, at least at first, things get better when the GPU is hot because the thermal expansion causes the cracks to fill. Over time, the cracks get bad enough that the GPU becomes unusable.

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