I have an older Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15AST that still works well for school. I upgraded the memory from 4 GB to 16 GB, and the system is otherwise running smoothly. It has an AMD A9 processor with integrated Radeon R5 graphics, a dedicated Radeon 530, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and 1 TB of storage.
When I start Windows, both GPUs initially appear in Task Manager. However, opening a browser or doing another basic task often causes a blue-screen crash mentioning MEMORY.DMP. After the restart, the dedicated Radeon 530 is no longer listed in Task Manager. I have already used DDU and reinstalled the graphics drivers, but the problem continues.
While opening the laptop to replace the thermal paste, I noticed what looks like genuinely melted black plastic near one of the GPU's VRAM chips. Could that physical damage be causing the crashes and the dedicated GPU to disappear? What would be the best way to confirm whether this is a hardware failure?
3 Answers
A clean operating-system installation could rule out corrupted Windows files, but it is not the first thing I would suspect here. Since the dedicated GPU disappears only after a crash and there is visible heat damage, the hardware is more suspicious. You can still test the laptop with the integrated graphics only, run a memory diagnostic, and check temperatures, but repeated crashes or artifacts would further point to a failing motherboard or Radeon 530.
The most important clue is the apparent melted plastic near the graphics memory. If it is truly melted or heat-damaged material—not leftover thermal paste or adhesive—the dedicated GPU or its VRAM may have overheated and failed. Driver removal and reinstalling Windows cannot repair damaged hardware. Avoid stressing the laptop until it has been inspected, and have a repair shop examine the board under magnification. On this model, the dedicated GPU is generally soldered to the motherboard, so repair may require board-level work or replacing the motherboard.
It does look like actual black plastic rather than thermal paste. I noticed it around the black chip while repasting the laptop.
The minidump files can help confirm what is triggering the blue screen. Check C:WindowsMinidump and copy any files there before compressing and sharing them with a reputable file-hosting service. If the folder is empty, configure Windows to create small memory dumps and collect the next few crashes. The bug-check information may distinguish a graphics-driver problem from memory or motherboard failure.
A clear close-up photo of the area would help determine whether it is melted board material, a damaged component, or simply residue from a thermal pad or adhesive.