8 Day Old HP Omen 15" Freezing Whilst Gaming

[KurtHoyle]

Hi folks,

So I've had my HP Omen 15" i7 7700 GTX 1060 Max Q 8GB Ram for 8 days...
I've used it for gaming for about 4 days. Today when trying to play Fortnite Battle Royale and PUBG I am experiencing freezing after about 5 minutes of gaming. After reading numerous posts online regarding this issue with the HP Omen notebooks, I unplugged the AC Adapter which initially stops the freeze and I can continue gaming for a few more minutes until it freezes again. Using the trackpad doesn't work, there's no cursor. The trackpad buttons beep when pressed and don't function. Control Alt Del works,  you just have to use the TAB key to move. When you TAB across to the power options and click restart, it doesn't restart. The screen goes black and the keyboard remains lit until you physically hold down the power button to shut it down.I believe it's an issue with it overheating, which is made worse when it's plugged in. There's no way to change settings with Cool Sense. Is there maybe better fans or something else that would help?

I paid £1,100 for this notebook and having it completely freeze on day 8 has annoyed me somewhat.  So, my question is, does anybody know of a fix for this, if so can you let me know ASAP, because if not, I'll be returning it to the retailer for a refund.  

Thanks in advance

Kurt

[old_geekster]

@KurtHoyle, welcome to the forum.

I understand that you believe you are having heat problems with your new Omen laptop.  I suggest that you try aiming a fan at the laptop while gaming.  If it doesn't freeze you definitely have a heat problem.

I have had two older Omen laptops and played many newer games, plugged in and on battery, without any problems with heat.

[KurtHoyle · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the reply....

I have discovered the issue....

Basically my brand new laptop froze so bad you could only power it off by holding the power button and waiting for it to shutdown...,

Guess what the cause was?....

The batteries were running out of power in my Xbox One controller and it turned the laptop into meltdown....

It seems to be a bug with the bluetooth hardware/software....

I couldn't believe it....
New batteries in my controller and I'm running Fortnite and PUBG on ultra settings - without a single issue (ok, it gets a bit warm, but it copes)

Thanks again 

[Photoray002]

Well that's a new one on me, but then I don't use controllers.

I did see someone else had issues with the controller crashing games when the batteries got low.

Thanks for the update.

I would keep an eye on your temps though just to be sure you're not getting too hot. You can use the Omen Command Center or use another utility like HWMonitor, etc.

Ya It will run hotter on AC than battery because its throttling to conserve battery power. But don't game on battery if you can help it. That will just bring the battery closer to its end of life a lot faster. I keep the charger plugged in while its fully charged, rather than cause battery recycles. If it makes you feel better, just unplug it while not in use.

Let us know how those temps go.

[KurtHoyle]

I couldn't believe it. Tried different thing to replicate the freezing. I finally swapped out the batteries for new and had no issues. Put the old ones back in, and low and behold - it froze.

The only issue you have whilst gaming without it being plugged in, is the brightness of the screen.

Also, I've read a few posts that say you should game when it is plugged in.

I'm not an hardcore gamer by any means. Maybe 1-2 hours a day, if that.

It would be good to get confirmation from HP whether or not it is ok to game with it plugged in.

Hey wait, I think it was one of your posts that said about having it plugged in?!

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Gaming-Notebooks/Does-my-gaming-Laptop-needs-to-play-in-plugged-in-Is-...

I tend to only use it plugged in for gaming. Photoshop and Lightroom worked, I use unplugged and let the battery run down

[Photoray002]

The only issue you have whilst gaming without it being plugged in, is the brightness of the screen.

Um no, that's just a setting you can control for the screen in the power options. Lowering the brightness conserves battery a little more. The biggest issue from a performance stand point is throttling reduces FPS in games.

Both Nvidia and AMD cards will give you an option to run a game on a higher power mode for battery also. Its still not going to give you the full FPS of playing plugged in, but its an option just the same.

I do not use the battery unless I have it away from my desk, but my Omen doesn't leave my desk.

I will let the battery run down only occasionally (once a month or so). I absolutely use Photoshop and anything else plugged in.

Omens can eat a battery up and I don't exactly relish the thought of having to replace one very soon.

But to each their own.   😉

[KurtHoyle]

I was basically running the laptop with the only power setting that was available, which was HP's very own power balanced setting.

I've created my own now so all looks good.

Thanks again for your help and recommendations 🙂

[Photoray002]

Keep an eye on the temps for a little while being its new. A couple users had issues with temps getting too high.

I will admit a gaming rig makes for a great photoshop rig, especially if you get the 4K screen. The color accuracy on those panels for just being a laptop monitor is sure nice.