Subject: HP Victus 16 – Display Flickering and HAL 21 Errors

[SuspiciousPig00]

Subject: HP Victus 16 – Display Flickering and HAL 21 Errors

Dear HP Support,

I am experiencing recurring flickering and hardware errors on my HP Victus 16 laptop.

Problem Description

• The display flickers heavily when running Valorant, lasting until the game crashes.

• On one occasion, the flickering also continued briefly after a system restart.

• An external keyboard also flickers, suggesting the issue is not limited to the display panel.

Error Logs

• Reliability Monitor reports Hardware Errors (HAL Event ID 21).

• LiveKernelEvent codes: 1a8 (PCIe bus error) and 1b8 (WHEA hardware error).

• Event Viewer also logs Win32k errors (Event ID 700) around the time of crashes.

Observations

• The issue first appeared after changing resolution to 1280×1024 (true stretch) in Valorant.

• Now the issue persists even after reinstalling Valorant and Vanguard.

• The problem occurs on both iGPU and dGPU, which suggests a system-wide fault.

Troubleshooting Tried

• Reinstalled Valorant and Vanguard.

• Updated GPU drivers.

• Ran Windows Memory Diagnostic (no errors found).

• Tested with both iGPU and dGPU (issue persists).

Request

Could you please review this issue? From my perspective, it may be related to the GPU/PCIe bus, power delivery, or hall sensor/display path — all of which are known weak points in this model. I would appreciate your guidance on repair options or recommended next steps.

Best regards,
Leoo

[zoey7886]

@SuspiciousPig00, Welcome to the HP Support Community!  

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding HP Victus 16! 

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.  

That definitely sounds frustrating — especially when you’re mid-game and the screen starts flickering like a strobe light, only to end in a crash. Thanks for sharing the detailed logs, that helps narrow things down.

Since the errors point to PCIe and WHEA hardware events, this looks deeper than just Valorant or drivers. A couple of steps worth trying:

Run HP Hardware Diagnostics (F2 at startup) → check graphics and system board tests to rule out hardware faults.

Update BIOS and chipset drivers from the HP Support site for your exact Victus model.

Check Windows power settings → set to “High Performance” and disable PCIe Link State Power Management (this sometimes calms PCIe bus errors).  

Hope this helps! 

Take care, and have an amazing day!  

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Regards, 

[SuspiciousPig00]

nope it did not fix it, even worse it now happens during idle use