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HP Victus 16 laptop freezes for 4-5 seconds when running games

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rayden_greywolf

rayden_greywolf

PCHF Member
Nov 20, 2023
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#1
I've had this HP Victus 16 laptop for about six months now, with this issue occurring right from the start. While running any game, whether its graphics-intensive or not, the laptop freezes up for about 5-6 seconds, its fans running harder while doing so. Often the sound will glitch, repeating whatever music or noises are playing in a couple-seconds loop until the laptop unfreezes. It will do these freezing episodes sporadically during most games, maybe every 5-10 minutes, though certain things seem to trigger it with more certainty, namely when some graphical element occurs such as a grenade going off in XCOM 2 or a car crash in Beam . ng.

Things I've tried:

  1. Ran windows memory diagnostic, which showed no problems
  2. Upgraded from 16 to 32g RAM with only maybe some slight improvements to the issue
  3. Updated/Reinstalled graphics drivers
  4. Restored system to factory default
I also took the laptop back into the Microcenter I bought it from, but they weren't able to diagnose any problem and thus any further looking into the issue wasn't covered under warranty (which since then has expired).

Below are my system specs. If there's any additional information that would be helpful, let me know. I'm not super knowledgeable about this stuff to be honest, heh.

AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon Graphics , 3.20 GHz

HP Victus 16- e1xxx

31.2gb total physical memory, 34gb total virtual memory
 
#2
rayden_greywolf said:
31.2gb total physical memory, 34gb total virtual memory
Click to expand...
Where did you obtain this? Can you upload a screenshot please?

Download Speccy.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:​

  1. In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.
  2. In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.
  3. Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot dialog box. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.
  4. Include your PSU specs.
 
#3
xrobwx71 said:
Where did you obtain this? Can you upload a screenshot please?

Download Speccy.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:​

  1. In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.
  2. In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.
  3. Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot dialog box. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.
  4. Include your PSU specs.
Click to expand...
From windows system information, but here's the screenshot from Speccy: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/Rj2RhzXtxvHayFXFYqvCGw8
 
#4
The symptoms are typical of something overheating but looking at Speccy throws up a couple of other scenarios but regardless of whether or no they are they need sorting asap, question first though;

rayden_greywolf said:
I've had this HP Victus 16 laptop for about six months now,
Click to expand...

rayden_greywolf said:
I also took the laptop back into the Microcenter I bought it from, but they weren't able to diagnose any problem and thus any further looking into the issue wasn't covered under warranty (which since then has expired).
Click to expand...

How can the warranty of run out if you have only had the computer for six months.
 
#5
phillpower2 said:
The symptoms are typical of something overheating but looking at Speccy throws up a couple of other scenarios but regardless of whether or no they are they need sorting asap, question first though;





How can the warranty of run out if you have only had the computer for six months.
Click to expand...
Rather, I meant microcenter's 3 month warranty, in terms of when I took it in to get looked at. The HP warranty did expire this August though. Regardless, I was told by microcenter that the warranty wouldn't cover anything if they couldn't find a problem in their diagnostics and there wasn't a specific error code. I would've taken it to other places for diagnostics of the issue if I could've afforded it at the time. That's actually one reason I'm posting here, so I can hopefully figure out what exactly the problem is to be able to tell a pc tech when I'm able to take it in.
 
#6
Was the computer out of the box new when you purchased it.

Microcentre is a US based company not UK :unsure:

rayden_greywolf said:
Regardless, I was told by microcenter that the warranty wouldn't cover anything
Click to expand...

They have fobbed you off there, if the computer is still under any warranty at all the merchant that sold you the computer is liable, if you start tinkering with the insides of the computer any warranty is null and void and is why we need to know if the computer was new when you got it six months ago.

Fwiw, if the computer was not new when you got it there is a chance that it had been returned for being faulty.
 
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#7
phillpower2 said:
Was the computer out of the box new when you purchased it.

Microcentre is a US based company not UK :unsure:



They have fobbed you off there, if the computer is still under any warranty at all the merchant that sold you the computer is liable, if you start tinkering with the insides of the computer any warranty is null and void and is why we need to know if the computer was new when you got it six months ago.

Fwiw, if the computer was not new when you got it there isa chance that it had been returned for being faulty.
Click to expand...
Thinking about it, yeah, you're right, it was refurbished, I had forgotten. It was still under HP warranty until August of this year. Ironically, I bought it after trading in a lesser model of the same kind of Victus laptop that had the exact same issue, only worse. So, won't be buying this model again that's for sure.

And yeah, its in the US, I've just moved to the UK a little over a month ago :)
 
#8
rayden_greywolf said:
And yeah, its in the US, I've just moved to the UK a little over a month ago :)
Click to expand...

A good reason why you can`t take it back ;)

Do you have the AC adaptor powering the notebook when you are gaming.

From Speccy, most important first;

Partition 1
Partition ID: Disk #0, Partition #1
Disk Letter: C:
File System: NTFS
Volume Serial Number: 0693C916
Size: 476 GB
Used Space: 449 GB (94%)
Free Space: 26.7 GB (6%)
Click to expand...

For Windows to be able to run efficiently and to be able to update you need to have between 20 and 25% of the partition or drive available as free storage space at all times, if you don`t you risk Windows becoming corrupt or not being able to update which puts you at risk of malware attack.

Data only storage devices should not be allowed to get any lower than 10% of free storage space of the full capacity of the drive/partition on the drive, this also to avoid data corruption.

Please note that storage devices can physically fail if the amount of free storage space is allowed to drop below the required 10 or 20/25% minimum.

Uninstall as many unused programs, games, videos and music files as you can and get yourself another means of backing up to, post back when you have between 20 and 25% free storage on the C: drive/partition and we can go from there.

Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64-bit
Computer type: Notebook
Installation Date: 3/29/2023 3:45:58 AM
Click to expand...

The system was not set up properly once Windows had been installed;


Once Windows has been clean installed you must then install first the MBs chipset drivers then the storage/SATA drivers and third the graphics drivers, the drivers can either come from a disk provided by the motherboard manufacturer ** or downloaded from their site and saved to a flash drive etc, this is a must and Windows should not be allowed to check for updates before it has been done as more often than not Windows installs the wrong drivers or in the incorrect order and this can cause all sorts of problems.

The reason why this procedure is so important, the chipset is what enables the MB to be able to communicate with all the hardware + are the first drivers that Windows looks for on boot.

** For OEM computers/notebooks such as Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo etc you must only download drivers from their support page, OEMs may sometimes redirect users to a third party site such as AMD or Nvidea to obtain the latest drivers for their GPUs, this tends to be for high end gaming notebooks and desktops though.

11/24/2023 11:58 AM;: Driver Easy Scheduled Scan
Click to expand...

Complete snake oil that you will not see recommended on any reputable forum;

Once Windows has been installed, you install the necessary drivers for the MB and other hardware and then leave well alone, drivers should not be allowed to auto update and you should never update any driver/s unless the new drivers are intended to resolve a specific issue that you are having, installing new drivers unnecessarily can actually cause you the very issues that any new drivers are intended to resolve and uninstalling the new drivers may not resolve the problem/s that installing the new drivers has caused.

Depending on priority it can take many months before the driver provider releases any fix and depending on the age of the hardware or software concerned they sometimes do not even bother or may have already announced an end of support.
 
#9
phillpower2 said:
A good reason why you can`t take it back ;)

Do you have the AC adaptor powering the notebook when you are gaming.

From Speccy, most important first;



For Windows to be able to run efficiently and to be able to update you need to have between 20 and 25% of the partition or drive available as free storage space at all times, if you don`t you risk Windows becoming corrupt or not being able to update which puts you at risk of malware attack.

Data only storage devices should not be allowed to get any lower than 10% of free storage space of the full capacity of the drive/partition on the drive, this also to avoid data corruption.

Please note that storage devices can physically fail if the amount of free storage space is allowed to drop below the required 10 or 20/25% minimum.

Uninstall as many unused programs, games, videos and music files as you can and get yourself another means of backing up to, post back when you have between 20 and 25% free storage on the C: drive/partition and we can go from there.
Click to expand...
Yes, the AC adaptor (plugged into a proper converter to be able to use the outlets here), is powering the notebook at all times.

As for the storage issue, unless I'm mistaken, I believe that it's a bug, showing an incorrect amount of storage usage. When I first got notified of the storage issue from Windows, I uninstalled a few memory-heavy games and noticed the storage amount didn't change at all, no matter what I did to it. From what I looked up, this is a Windows bug. I've had the freezing issues before this bug appeared.

As for your other recommendations, that sounds about right, I do believe the previous notebook model also showed problems with the Windows OS specifically. Considering the importance of following all of these steps precisely, do you think I should let a reputable pc technician do this?
 
#10
Can you upload an expanded screenshot of Disk Manager for us.

Access Disk Management via Run.

Press the Windows+R keys to open Run, type diskmgmt.msc in the empty box then press OK.

To capture and post a screenshot;

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... after typing in any response you have... click on Upload a File to add the screenshot.

Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.

Can I ask that you do not quote every reply as we have to read the full post to make sure nothing gets missed,, thanks.
 
#11
Uploaded the screenshot as requested.
 

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#13
Ah, found the issue, I had forgot I had some memory-heavy games on C drive, but they weren't included in the list of apps when looking at storage in settings. I'm glad you had me look into this! I had thought it was just a bug.

But, yes, would you recommend that I see a pc tech about making sure I do the proper driver installations?
 
#14
Apologies for the delay getting back to you, been busy outside of forums.

rayden_greywolf said:
would you recommend that I see a pc tech about making sure I do the proper driver installations?
Click to expand...

The steps are provided in my reply #8 but if you do not feel comfortable doing them is there no one else that you can ask to help you with it before paying a tech.
 
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