HP Omen shuts down with overheat issue on Steam Games

[JimRR1]

My sons Omen powers off when he just tries to run certain games on Steam. He just recently had his system power off when playing a game he doesn't normally have a problem with. He said his box felt hot after it shut down. We think it's an overheat issue and wonder if upgrading to liquid cooling would help with the problem. We also want to confirm that one of the options for this system is to be liquid cooled and how much it would cost to purchase it from HP. Also how hard is it to do this upgrade? Is it just a matter of pulling off the heat sink and replacing it with the liquid cooled one or do you also have to replace the CPU?

[itsmyname]

@JimRR1 -- normally, a CPU change is not required.

With the computer powered-off, open-up the computer's case, and look for dust clogging the heatsink on top of the CPU, and dust clogging the fan on top of the heatsink. 

Check for dust inside the power-supply -- some blasts from a can of compressed-air can help.

Check that the vents that allow room-temperature air to enter the case are not clogged.

Do not set the computer on top of a soft cloth -- that may block the intake of air.

Power-on your computer, and check that the fans (inside back-plane, and CPU) are working.

As soon as you start Windows, download, install, and run the free SPECCY software, to display the temperatures (disk-drive, motherboard, CPU) and the speed of the fan(s).  Run the computer-game for a few minutes, and rerun SPECCY, to see the current values.

[JimRR1]

He usually keeps it pretty clean but this also happens instantaneously when he just starts certain games which seems to indicate it may not be a heat issue as the CPU would have to reach critical temp instantly as well. Supposedly his system meets the minimum requirements for the game but now I wonder if maybe it doesn't. We are getting more ram but I am also wondering if we replace his CPU with a faster one if this may help.

[itsmyname]

@JimRR1 -- is this your computer: OMEN by HP 880-069 Desktop PC Product Specifications | HP® Customer Support

That page states:

Motherboard supports the following processor upgrades:

AMD Ryzen™ 7 1800X Processor | AMD (Summit Ridge) 3.6 GHz, 8 cores/16 threads
AMD Ryzen7-1700 (Summit Ridge) 3.0 GHz, 8 cores/16 threads
AMD Ryzen5-1600 (Summit Ridge) 3.2 GHz, 6 cores/12 threads

as upgrades from your current: AMD Ryzen5-1400 (Summit Ridge) 3.2 GHz, 4 cores/8 threads.

Retail price for the 1800X is over $400.  Yikes!

The motherboard supports up to 32 GB of RAM -- probably much more than any game needs.

Open the Windows "Task Manager" while the game is running, and switch to the "Performance" tab, to see how much RAM is actually used.

Note that a dislodged heat-sink on top of the CPU can "instantly" generate a very-hot system, soon after power-on.

[JimRR1]

Just upgraded to 32 GB Ram. The motherboard is running at a constant 88 degree while the processor is only running around 50 to 55 degrees. Is there any way to improve the ventilation on this model? Also the only thing I found in the logs around the time his system shuts down is a kernel error so I don't know if it's a windows issue or whether upgrading the processor might help. 

[itsmyname]

@JimRR1 -- The motherboard is running at a constant 88 degree 

That is unusually hot. 

For a desktop computer, remove the side-panel, to expose the motherboard.

Does the temperature drop, after 10 to 15 seconds?

Shutdown Windows.

Disconnect the power-cord.

Touch the computer's case, to eliminate any static electricity charge that your hand may have.

Carefully and gently, place one finger-tip very near to the interior walls of the power-supply? If it is hot, it is possible that the fan inside the power-supply has failed.

Then, place one finger near the disk-drive? Is it hot?

Then, place one finger near the heat-sink between the CPU and the fan on top of the heat-sink? Is it hot?

Try to "spin" the fan on top of the heat-sink. It should spin freely.

If you have an add-in graphics adapter card, does it have its own fan? Can you easily "spin" that fan?

Is that graphics adapter card hot?

Note that 88 degrees is almost enough to boil water (100 degrees), so be careful.

[OmenGamer79 · Accepted solution]

Sounds to me it could be as simple as a thermal paste issue or a bad power supply.

If your son is a heavy gamer playing newer title games it puts alot of stress and higher temperatures on the cpu cores, which burns out the thermal paste between the cpu and heat sink.

the release date of your unit is 2017 and if your son is a heavy gamer it may be time to apply new thermal paste between the heatsink and the CPU.

I recommend. this thermal paste I use frequently.

GENNEL 20g Silver Compound Thermal Conductive Grease Paste for CPU GPU Chipset Ovens Cooling https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010NK56ZU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_FJF38SAZHSZ374YS2N7Y?_encoding=UTF8...

Also you will want to buy a watt meter and install it before your power supply. You want to double check that the motherboard is receiving the appropriate power. If the voltage has become unregulated at the supply the cpu and the graphics card will run HOT. Typical voltage is 12volt. If the power supply is unregulated it can run as high as 20volt which is extremely bad for the mother board.

with a 1050ti graphics card and CPU for that generation should not be exceeding 225watts  from your outlet. If you are getting a reading of 250 watts or higher there is a voltage regulation problem. Then its advised to change the power supply. This is the easiest way for novices to determine a bad power supply. I actually use a volt meter at the power supply contacts on the board and do testing when the board is charged but I dont recommend that method for inexperienced technicians that have never worked on a bench to test a board.

Kernel errors are a result of improper voltage which either leads from a bad power supply, burnt capacitors on the mother board, or an improper bios operation. I know this fixing original xboxs, and xbox 360’s. Boards would run hot and get mother board warping from running to hot. Happens more oft n with console systems, none the less it happens with PC’s as well.