Black screen when playing

[conan_claus]

Hello, I recently purchased a refubrished Envy x360.

Model info: https://support.hp.com/it-it/document/c06692928

HP warranty still active (9 months), plus vendor warranty (12 months).

HP Sup. Ass. shows no updates are needed. Win 10 is updated. All drivers are updated. 

Everything works fine except when I play some games.
So far I tried: Half Life 2 Ep. 1, SW Republic Commando and Planescape: Torment EE.
All the games are legally downloaded from Steam.
When playing HL, after a while, with no reason, the screen turns black and the notebook freezes. With Republic Commando it has happened just once, with Planescape I had no issues so far.

I tried playing with lower settings and in windowed mode but it still happens
Light power stays on. There's no way to get back to the desktop. I can only press the power button and force a restart.

No messages, no codes, nothing at all.

I ran: HP PC Hardware Diagnostic Windows and Windows Troubleshooter; no issues reported.
Graphic settings from AMD Radeon Software is set to Standard.

Any help?

[Echo_Lake]

@conan_claus

Thank you for posting on HP Support Community.
 

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, this sounds like a game compatibility issue.

• Have you tried with windows compatibility mode?
• Have you tried with a different game such as low graphic games?

Keep me posted for further assistance.

[conan_claus]

Dear Echo_Lake,

Since I've posted the thread I had the time to try a few things including some test.

Switching the thermal profile with HP utility Command Center from Recommended to Comfort to Performance prolonged the gameplay time. The notebook eventually freezed again after a good 40 min.

Memtest86 found no errors.

Spoiler

AIDA64 45min stress test on CPU

Spoiler

1 minute after the end of the test

Spoiler

5 minutes after the end of the test

Spoiler

Tomorrow I'm gonna try a GPU stress test plus reinstalling the Graphic Card drivers plus running the game via Windows Compatibility Mode (if that is how it works, as I never used WCM before).

Yes, I have shortly played Planescape Torment EE which didn't crash. I've not spent a long time on it though.

I took a short video of the issue while playing

Spoiler

[conan_claus]

Dear Echo_Lake,

This morning I was about to start the GPU stress test and I got the following warning

Spoiler

After a quick googling I found a thread in AIDA64 forum
https://forums.aida64.com/topic/3906-stability-test-suggestion-dialog-tdrdelay/

Could this setting be related to my issue?

[conan_claus]

Dear @Echo_Lake,

How am I supposed to run the game via windows compatibility mode?
When I right click on the icon the option doesn't show up as the path it's a URL no a path to a .exe file in an installation folder.

Shall I run Steam via windows compatibility mode?

[Echo_Lake]

@conan_claus

Thank you for posting back.

Let's try this: 

1. Right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu. ...
2. Select the Compatibility tab and check the box next to Run this program in compatibility mode for:
3. Select the version of Windows to use for your game's settings from the drop down. ...
4. Click Apply and run the application.

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.

[conan_claus]

Dear @Echo_Lake,

As mentioned before, the link on my desktop is not a link to an .exe file. So I can't run the game using the compatibility option.
Please take vision of the following screenshot.

Spoiler

It's weird that I can't find the .exe for the game. There is only one in HL folder but it runs HL2 not Ep1.

I can't try Republic Commando neither for the same reason.

Would you suggest another way to run the games through that modality?

[Echo_Lake]

@conan_claus
Thank you for posting back.

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, As we have limited support boundaries in the support community as of now.

I would request you to contact 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.