HD5450 screen artifacts and other issues

[mknabster]

Hi all, I have an ATI Radeon HD5450 setup in my Dell Optiplex 745 small form factor which I use as an HTPC with XBMC, and lately I have been noticing that with HD movies, about 30 minutes into the show or movie, I start seeing screen artifacts, like pink lines or blocks or different colors that cover half the screen, but they flicker and go away. Then other times when this happens, the TV itself loses the HDMI connection from the computer, but will come back after a few seconds.

What could this be? Is it power related or could the card be faulty? Thanks

 

[herrwizo]

Either the card is overheating (check your "max" GPU temperature with Open HW Monitor) or is about do die. The first can easily be fixed by better cooling or adding more case fans. The second one... well, not much, except "baking in the oven" procedure, which is used as a last resort, after you already decided to throw the card away:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair+VGA+card+by+re-flowing+solder+on+the+board/2240