HP Victus black screen and hard lock under GPU load

[WesParmalee]

My HP Victus laptop consistently black screens and becomes completely unresponsive when the NVIDIA GPU is used.

The issue occurs immediately when launching any game.
The laptop goes to a black screen, fans ramp to maximum, and the system does not respond even to holding the power button.

After forcing a shutdown and restart, the same blackout sometimes occurs even without starting a game, until another hard power cycle.

In normal desktop use (browsing, Office, video), the laptop works, which indicates the AMD integrated GPU is functioning but the NVIDIA GPU or its power delivery is failing.

The problem persists after:

• Clean NVIDIA driver installation

• BIOS update to the latest version

• Running HP’s extensive hardware diagnostics (which reported no errors)

This is clearly a hardware fault in the NVIDIA GPU or its power delivery, not a software issue. The laptop is unusable for its intended purpose as a gaming system. I wanted to submit this as a warranty claim. It is disappointing that HP does not provide a direct online claim process and only offers phone contact during working hours (08:30–17:30), which is exactly when most people are at work. 

[Hawks_Eye]

Hi @WesParmalee 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! We're here to help you get back up and running.

My sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you. We'd hate for you to be stuck in a situation like this. Because you matter to us.

Not to worry I'll do everything I can to help get this sorted for you.

Thank you for laying out the situation so precisely—and I truly regret the disruption this has caused, especially when your HP Victus laptop is otherwise functioning well under integrated GPU load. 

The symptoms you’ve described—black screen, fan surge, and complete system lock during NVIDIA GPU activation—strongly suggest a failure in GPU power delivery, thermal regulation, or firmware-level switching logic between integrated and discrete graphics.

Let’s walk through a structured recovery path that aligns with HP’s support guidance and targets the root of this issue.

 

Advanced Troubleshooting for HP Victus GPU Lockup Under Load

 

1. Disable Hybrid Graphics Temporarily

• Enter BIOS Setup by pressing F10 during startup.
• Navigate to Advanced > Device Configuration or Graphics Settings.
• If available, switch from Hybrid Graphics to Discrete Only or Integrated Only.
• Save and exit. This isolates the NVIDIA GPU and may prevent switching-related lockups.

If no graphics toggle is available in BIOS, proceed with driver-level isolation below.

 

2. Use DDU to Fully Remove NVIDIA Drivers

Even clean installs can leave residual files:

• Download Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) from Wagnardsoft
• Boot into Safe Mode, run DDU, and remove all NVIDIA components.
• Reboot and install the latest NVIDIA drivers directly from HP’s official driver page for your Victus model.

 

3. Check Windows Event Viewer for Critical Errors

• Open Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System
• Look for Kernel-Power, Display, or nvlddmkm.sys errors around the time of the crash.
• These entries can confirm whether the GPU driver or power subsystem is failing.

 

4. Run GPU Stress Test in Controlled Environment

• Use FurMark or Unigine Heaven to stress the NVIDIA GPU.
• Monitor temperatures and power draw using HWMonitor or GPU-Z.
• If the system locks immediately, it confirms a hardware-level fault under load.

 

5. Check for EC Firmware or Power Delivery Updates

• Visit HP’s support portal and search for:
  • Embedded Controller (EC) firmware
  • Power management drivers
• These updates can resolve voltage regulation issues that trigger hard locks.

 

If the Issue Persists

If the system continues to lock under GPU load after these steps, the fault may lie in:

• VRM failure on the motherboard
• GPU solder joint degradation (especially if the laptop sat unused for long periods)
• Faulty mux switch logic between integrated and discrete graphics

I truly regret the frustration this has caused—especially when the system was expected to handle gaming workloads reliably. 

Let me know how far you get with these steps, and I’ll guide you further if needed. You deserve a stable and high-performing machine.

If my response helped, please mark it as an Accepted Solution! ✅ It helps others and spreads support. 💙 Also, tapping "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" makes a big difference! Thanks! 😊

Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

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[WesParmalee]

After contacting HP support, I was asked to switch on the laptop and start a game. I did. Of course this resulted a crash within some minutes. I was not able to switch it off becasue of the black screen, continuous hold of power button didn't work, fans ran like hell. I had to deplete the battery. Since then, I cannot switch it on. Thanks to the assistance of HP support, I cannot use my laptop anymore. I contacted them again, but we were not able to move from the "manipulation a la distance" idea, although I told and submitted in the problem description that my laptop is dead. 

[Hawks_Eye]

@WesParmalee 

If after following these steps you still face issues, consider reaching out to our customer support over the phone for further assistance. 

It looks like we may have to raise a service order for the same. 
 

I'm sending you a private message to guide you on the next steps.

To access it, click the private message icon in the upper-right corner of your HP Support Community profile, next to your name.

If this resolves your issue, kindly mark this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" if it was helpful.

Take care and have a great day!

Regards,

Hawks_Eye