HP Omen 15 freezing when GPU is running

[Rebecca173]

Hello,

I have an HP Omen 15 (RTX 2070Q) and I'm running into a serious issue where the laptop freezes completely and forces a hard shutdown whenever the GPU is initialized. I’ve done several diagnostics to narrow down the problem and would appreciate any advice or confirmation.

What I’ve tested so far:

• Unplugged all external devices, laptop ran for a couple hours idle

• Plugging in HDMI for a second monitor triggers a freeze after several minutes

• Running any game freezes the laptop after about a minute

• Ran a CPU stress test with CPU-Z — no issues

• Monitored temps with SpeedFan and HWiNFO — CPU/GPU temps fine

• Installed FurMark — laptop froze after a few mins

• Opened up the laptop, noted that Fan2 (likely the GPU fan) only spins for a second at boot, then stops

• When launching NVIDIA Control Panel, Fan2 briefly starts and the laptop crashes after a few mins

• Unplugged the Fan2 connector entirely and tested again lightly — still freezes when GPU initializes with Nvidia control panel

• No recent driver updates (last update was over a year ago), i did end up updating it but nothing changed

A repair shop diagnosed it as likely a GPU failure, and said a motherboard replacement would probably be needed with it, which might not be worth it.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue with an HP Omen? Is there any workaround or final test I could try before contacting a manufacturer? Is it really the GPU like I suspect, which means I will likely need a new laptop? Would also appreciate any guidance on HP’s repair options for this kind of problem.

Thanks in advance!

[VikramTheGreat]

Hi @Rebecca173,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.
 

Thank you for posting your query. I will be glad to help you.

Thanks for your detailed diagnostics — you've done an excellent job narrowing this down. Based on your testing and the symptoms (freezing only when the GPU is initialized, Fan2 behavior, HDMI triggering crashes, etc.), this strongly suggests a hardware-level GPU failure, likely due to:

• A faulty RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU
• A failing GPU fan or VRM component
• Or a motherboard-level fault affecting GPU power delivery

Before giving up on the hardware, here are a few last-resort steps:
 

1. Disable the NVIDIA GPU (dGPU)

Try forcing the system to use only the integrated Intel GPU:

• Open Device Manager
• Under Display adapters, right-click the NVIDIA GPU and choose Disable device
• Reboot and test system stability

If the system runs fine, it confirms the NVIDIA GPU is the issue.
 

2. BIOS Update & Reset

• Visit the HP Omen 15 BIOS download page and check for updates
• Reset BIOS to defaults (F10 at boot > Load Setup Defaults)
   

3. HP UEFI Hardware Diagnostics

• Power off the laptop
• Press Esc repeatedly at startup, then F2 for diagnostics
• Run the GPU test (if available)

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day.

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VikramTheGreat

HP Support