Video_tdr_failure BSOD under load caused by atikmdag.sys and heavy frame drops in games

[PinQ]

Hi,

I have had inconsistency problems with my HP Spectre x360 - 15t-ch000 for a long time. Under heavier load the computer crashes often with a bluescreen giving Video_tdr_failure error code and stating atikmdag.sys having been the reason. I initially suspected overheating to have been the cause but I bought a powerful cooling pad and have used it ever since and the crashes didn't seem to have been affected at all. The laptop runs hot but never burning to touch.

I use my laptop occasionally for gaming and that is the main use in which the BSOD occurs. Study-related simulating programs have also caused crashes a few times. I've tried downloading, uninstalling and reinstalling drivers and have reset windows too. Messing with drivers has sometimes affected the crashes (experienced change for better and worse) but never removed them completely.

The crashing is semi-consistent but has a big variance over longer periods of time. For example, the most demanding game I've played has rarely worked perfectly but I have several times managed to run it perfectly without crashes. It might work on a single day or two but then go back to crashing after 5 minutes a week later. One lighter load game works the opposite, runs usually without crashes but might some day just crash every half an hour. A single crash almost always makes the laptop crash much easier and the frequency of crashing increases if use is continued.

I also get heavy frame drops in all games I play on my laptop. The game would run smoothly most of the time but consistently get frames dropped to about 15 fps (down from 90) for 5 to 20 seconds. The frequency of these frame drops varies from once in 10 minutes to once a minute.

I'm currently running windows version 1909 build 18363.815 and radeon driver version 18.50.08 but I've had this problem pretty much as long as I've had this laptop so the problem has persisted through several windows and driver versions.

I recently tried troubleshooting with this article but have never found an "ATI" directory or "atikmdag.sy_"/"atikmpag.sy_" files anywhere on my computer even after installing the latest driver (even without restarting the computer).

I bought this computer direct from HP as an "As new" refurbished product but have pretty much always had problems. Any experts out there able to help me with this tragedy?

Kind regards,

PinQ

[Echo_Lake]

@PinQ

Thank you for posting on HP Support Community.

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, I have a few troubleshooting steps we could try to fix the issue:  

Firstly, perform Windows Update and HP Support Assistant: (do not skip any troubleshooting steps if you feel steps are repeating) 

To check for updates now, select the Start button, and then go to Settings  > Update & security  > Windows Update, and select Check for updates.

Install updates from HP Support Assistant: Go to Download HP Support Assistant to install the tool.

1. To open HP Support Assistant, double-click the HP Support Assistant icon .
2. Click My devices in the top menu, and then click Updates in the My PC or My notebook pane.
3. Click Check for updates and messages to scan for new updates.
4. Review the list of updates. Updates with a yellow information icon are recommended. Updates with a blue information icon are optional.
5. Click the update name for a description, version number, and file size.
6. Select the box next to any updates you want to install, and then click Download and install.

And also run BIOS Update: Follow steps from the link: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c00042629

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[PinQ]

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately I've tried these steps several times when trying to troubleshoot myself, without success at fixing the problem. Just to be sure I now after reading your reply, installed latest windows updates, checked the Support Assistant for updates (had no new updates) and checked my BIOS update through Device Manager (also no new updates). Then after restarting for the windows update, I booted up Destiny 2 for testing and got the BSOD with atikmpag.sys being the cause after less than 10 minutes of runtime. 😞

Kind regards,

Lassi Astala

[Echo_Lake]

@PinQ

I would request you to reach out to our Support and our Support Engineers should be able to sort this out. HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link: www.hp.com/contacthp/

Please feel free to contact us here anytime you need any further assistance. Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.