Laptop freezes when I exit game

[__Hassan]

I got my laptop in December 2020. I was able to play games just fine. No overheating, no freezing. A few weeks later, I started freezing (rarely) when I exited NFS Heat and I had to force restart it.

Then in March, this became a normal thing even in low end games like league of legends, etc. with graphics set to low/very low. CPU temps reaches 98 degrees Celsius within 1 min of launching the game. I cleaned all the vents and everything but this keeps happening. I was hardly able to play for 20 min before the laptop freeze in league of legends. Upon restart, it froze again on HP logo. I asked my friends who own the same laptop, their temps peak at 85 degrees whereas mine begins with 95 degrees when gaming. 

I tried cooling pad, temp remained same. the same cooling pad cooled down other laptops by 4-9 degrees. 

I came across an old post: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Archive-Read-Only/Laptop-Freezing-While-Gaming-UPDATE-Sent-t...

This is the exact problem I am facing, should I send this laptop to HP (I live in Pakistan, I have to ship it to gulf to claim the warranty). I have tried all the solutions suggested in other posts. 

Product: HP Pavilion 15 Gaming DK0056wn

CPU/GPU: i5-9300h/GTX 1650

Ram:16 gb (Both same stick, no issue with ram either)

Moreover LCD has screenburn problem which I would like to have fixed also.

Many people suggested to change the thermal paste, I am afraid that would void the warranty. 

I had HP Probook 450 G3 before this one, while gaming it remained at 99 degrees but never faced freezing problem in that laptop or any other laptop nor in other pavilion gaming laptops.

[Antoine_F]

Hi __Hassan,

I had a similar problem on a non-HP laptop. I physically cleaned the whole laptop by opening it and there was dust in it but, the problem still happened. So I changed thermal paste, same: the problem still happened.

So I changed the fans and it's where I found extra dust stuck between fans and the heatsink.

As your laptop is still covered by warranty you shouldn't open it and send it back to warranty service, this way you avoid pay for a professional or void your warranty opening it.

Or you may prefer open it yourself... See following:

If you feel comfortable to open your computer, consider following:
1 - Use patience, stay calm and, only use moderate strength.
2 - Use a clean rubber surface to put your laptop upside down in order to avoid stripes or scratches or any slip.
3 - Only use suitable tools (plastic spatula/plectrum, never the metallic tools provided in the kits as they leave marks on the ABS plastic cases).
4 - Remember that self opening your laptop can void your warranty.
5 - You are in charge and responsible for your actions.

I didn't find a video for your particular model but I assume it will be the same than in this video.

[__Hassan]

Hi Antoine_F,

I have cleaned the dust from the vents and have not removed the heatsink yet.  After posting the question, laptop froze again while watching youtube only and then again when I was gaming and CPU temp was at 80 degrees. I have all the tools and thermal paste available required but I am afraid that this might not just be a dust problem because it is happening since it was brand new machine. 

[Antoine_F · Accepted solution]

Thank you for thumbs up.

If the problem already append when the computer was brand new, you really should return it to warranty.

Because the problem seems to be heat related.

There is still a little chance that the problem relates to RAM problem, so you could check the RAM the following way:

Medicat is a toolkit which aims at providing a bootable toolkit in order to help in general computer repair.
In order to use Medicat, you will need an USB key with 21 GB available (in the best scenario, you will use an empty key to prevent data loss in it), to copy Medicat content and, to make bootable your USB key.
Following the Medicat official thread's link will provide you all the necessary informations: the downloading link and the method to make your USB key bootable (https://gbatemp.net/threads/medicat-usb-a-multiboot-linux-usb-for-pc-repair.361577/)

Once the Medicat Key is ready,:

1. Boot to the UEFI BIOS and turn off Secure Boot.
2. Boot on the Medicat Key
3. Go through the menu aiming at "Memtest 8.6+" (I can't remember where it is located right now).
4. Let Memtest complete at least 1 complete pass. If there is no error, the problem is probably not related to RAM.

[__Hassan]

I ran the test and after 4 complete passes it gave 0 errors. I have contacted the store where I bought it, they are asking hefty amount to claim the laptop's warranty (ship to Gulf and return) and one month time. I will look for some alternate method to claim the warranty and update the post if I found solution.

Thank you so much for your help.

[Antoine_F]

My pleasure __Hassan thank you for humbs up and accepted solution.

I probably have a solution but I don't know if it could work with your hardware...

HP sells CarePacks (warranty extension to 3y) with on site day+1 technical intervention. Maybe if it's less expensive than sending it back to the Gulf and applicable to your country it could be worth : more warranty and local intervention.

I know it works for business products...

Anyway, do not hesitate to keep me informed 🙂

[__Hassan]

Hi, sorry for the late response.

I checked that and it is not availanle for my machine. 

I went to the store where I bought it and after some testing, the fans were spinning on the same speed regardless of the temperature. The fan speed was same for 40° and 98° with HP coolsense on or off. They suggested to get the fan cleaned if the problem presists, they will claim the warranty (charging me $100-$120 for shipping). 

Is there any way to manually adjust the fan speed on this device? The laptop freezes on hardly 3mins of Fur Mark.