HP Victus 16 laptop freezing when running games/apps

[greywolf19]

I've had this HP Victus 16 laptop for about six months now, with this issue occurring right from the start. While running any game, whether its graphics-intensive or not, the laptop freezes up for about 5-6 seconds, humming louder than usual as though it were struggling to process while doing so. Often the sound will glitch, repeating whatever music or noises are playing in a couple-seconds loop until the laptop unfreezes. It will do these freezing episodes sporadically during most games, maybe every 5-10 minutes, though certain things seem to trigger it with more certainty, namely when some graphical element occurs such as a grenade going off in XCOM 2 or a car crash in Beam . ng, or when an input is entered that would cause a sound effect or dialogue to occur.

Things I've tried:

1. Ran windows memory diagnostic, which showed no problems
2. Upgraded from 16 to 32g RAM with only maybe some slight improvements to the issue
3. Updated/Reinstalled graphics drivers
4. Restored system to factory default
5. Checked internal temps both idle and under strain 

I also took the laptop back into the Microcenter I bought it from, but they weren't able to diagnose any problem and thus any further looking into the issue wasn't covered under warranty (which since then has expired).

[Alden4]

Hi @greywolf19,

Welcome to HP Support Community.  

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

It sounds like you've taken some important troubleshooting steps, but the issue persists. Here are some additional steps you can take to try to address the freezing problem on your HP Victus 16 laptop.

Check for Software Conflicts:

• Make sure that there are no background applications or processes causing conflicts. Close unnecessary programs running in the background.
• Disable any third-party antivirus or security software temporarily to see if it affects the issue.

Monitor Resource Usage:

• Use Task Manager to monitor resource usage during gameplay. Check if CPU, GPU, or RAM usage spikes during the freezing episodes.
• Look for any abnormal behavior in the resource usage graphs.

Check for Background Processes:

• Ensure that there are no unwanted processes running in the background. Some applications or services may be consuming resources without your knowledge.

BIOS Update:

• Check if there is a BIOS update available for your laptop on the HP support website. Sometimes, BIOS updates can address hardware compatibility and stability issues.

Power Settings:

• Adjust power settings to ensure that your laptop is not throttling performance during gaming. Set it to high performance mode while gaming to ensure maximum hardware utilization.

Windows Updates:

• Ensure that your operating system is up to date with the latest Windows updates. Sometimes, updates can include important performance improvements and bug fixes.

Event Viewer:

• Check the Windows Event Viewer for any error messages or warnings around the time the freezing occurs. This might provide more insight into the root cause.

Disk Cleanup:

• Perform a disk cleanup to ensure you have sufficient free space on your hard drive.

Pagefile Settings:

• Check your pagefile settings. Ensure that Windows is managing the pagefile size automatically.

Remember to back up important data before performing any major updates or changes to your system.

I hope this helps. 
 

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Alden4
HP Support 

[greywolf19]

Hi, thank you for responding. I've either already tried these suggestions in the past, or I've followed them now and am still having the issue. When monitoring task manager while gaming, as far as I can tell, it does seem to spike in GPU, CPU, and RAM usage. I did not see any errors when checking the windows event viewer.

I've been asking around in other places for suggestions, and one person suggested that the issue might be due to Windows having not been installed correctly. I believe this might indeed be the case, seeing as before I got this laptop, I had actually bought a lesser version of the Victus model, and I had the same issue, but worse, in which the OS itself seemed to freeze and the taskbar would disappear. The person also suggested that I would need to take care to install the drives correctly if I were to try a clean-slate Windows install, possibly before letting Windows do its automatic updates.

Does this theory sound reasonable to you? I want to make sure of all my options before taking it into another PC repair store.

[Alden4]

Hi @greywolf19,

Thank you for your response,

Due to limited support, I would request you contact our HP Support and our Support Engineers should be able to sort this out. HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link.

https://www.hp.com/contacthp/

Please feel free to contact us here anytime you need any further assistance.

Have a great day!

Alden4
HP Support