HP Pavilion 15 (bc516ns) crashes while gaming

Hello!

I have a HP Pavilion 15-bc516ns, Windows 10 v1909 (18363.900) installed yesterday having previously deleted all and every partition of the SSD. I installed the drivers from HERE (audio, chipset, graphics and network), and after that I connected to internet to let Windows Update do the rest. My BIOS version is up to date.

I've been having this problem for more than a month, with many windows fresh installs, and even send this laptop to HP support. They said there was a problem with the GPU, and replaced the motherboard. Still, the same issue persist. They refuse to give software support because the laptop was sold with FreeDOS and not Windows.

HP test suite (HP PC Hardware Diagnostics) showed no hardware problems, yet an OCCT 3D test running on the GTX 1650 detected errors after no more than 5 minutes. I've been able to run it for more than 2 hours with no errors detected after I underclocked both core and memory clocks by -100MHz with MSI Afterburner.
With this "stable" frequencies, I played Black Mesa for about 1 hour, before I got the crashes I've always had. I attach the events logged in the time between the crash happened and the PC came back to normal.
I haven't installed this time Payday 2 or Borderlands, but they were causing the same issues after some minutes of play. I've even had these crashes watching Discord streams.

Any help, hint, advice is really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Best regards,
Diego

Hello Compumind,

Thanks for the reply and the welcome.

I've tried, from a clean install, to let windows automatically download the drivers, but it's the same outcome. After that I've also used HP Support Assistant, to check if all drivers were up to date, which was the case.
I've also tried (actual case), again from a clean install, to install all drivers from HP, and after that connected to Internet and let windows do the updates.

I checked the link you posted, in case I was missing something, but that's the procedure I'm taking on every windows install.

Correct me if I'm wrong: You are suggesting to clean install, let windows update, and when it finishes, install all and every driver from HP, even if it "overwrites" the drivers that were installed by windows some moments before? That I haven't tried, and I'll give a shot... But what happens if the drivers downloaded from HP are older than the ones installed by windows? I'm asking that because I remember seeing NVIDIA driver version 441.xx when I used the HP installer, but it went to version 442.xx after windows update. And I made sure I downloaded the latest versions from HP.

I didn't change anything important in the BIOS, because I just can't. The only things it allows to modify is boot order, enable/disable virtualization, function keys, lan wake-up, fans and TMP (hidden or visible).

Best regards

You cannot mess around with a Laptop and drivers and expect to gain anything. Limited cooling and so forth means TDP limitations, alter those and it gets you in to deep trouble.
As you have found out limited options in the UEFI/BIOS, there are good reasons for that.

HP only support the OS it is sold with. It is up to you to support Windows 10 yourself or MS depending on what your license is.
The Nvidia graphics is integrated on the MOBO.

The crashes are likely due to overheating somewhere, you need to check that.

Intensive Stress tests are over the top for a Laptop, such things are for higher powered Desktop Graphics Cards. Likewise MSI Afterburner.

Hello Helmut,

Thanks for the reply.

I don't like playing with drivers, but I don't know why with things this laptop aren't working as expected even though I followed the same installations steps I did for many other desktops and laptops and never had an issue.

I'm aware that there are many good reasons to give the user a really basic BIOS. And I don't complain, I have no real business to do there.

HP sold this laptop with FreeDOS, that's why I'm looking for help here. I've spent many hours reading in internet, without success, before asking for help here.

I took photos of the hardware as soon as I got the laptop, and I can verify that the actual MOBO has different markings, so I'm pretty confident I'm now running a new MOBO and highly likely new CPU and GPU as well.

The first thing I suspected were temps, but I've been running HWiNFO in my second monitor, with graphs all around the place. When the crashes occur, I don't see any really high temps, nor temps spikes. They are stable at these values:
CPU ~80ºC, GPU ~75ºC, PCH ~70ºC, SSD ~50ºC

The strange thing is I even had these crashes without gaming or having the laptop under load. It has happened while coding in Visual Studio Code and having Firefox opened. The temps under this load are around:
CPU ~45ºC, GPU ~45ºC, PCH ~63ºC, SSD ~45ºC



I just want to know what the problem is, whether its hardware fault, bad drivers, hardware not able to withstand my demands, an incompetent user, etc. Only then I'll be able to take the proper actions.

Regards,

I have also a problem with HP denying support after elapse of the warranty time.
PCI Express x16 Bus record disappeared in the HWInfo64 bus section after installation of Lubuntu as dual boot
Notebook model is HP Pavilion - 17-ab403ng

The Hwinfo64 report delivers the following results for my HP Pavilion:

in the motherboard section

Motherboard Slots: 2xPCI Express x1, 1xPCI Express x8, 1xPCI Express x16

in the bus section

PCI Express x8 Bus #1 [J6B2]
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti [HP]
[General Information]
Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti [HP]
Original Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (GP107M)
Device Class: VGA Compatible Adapter
Revision ID: A1
PCI Address (Bus: Device:
Function) Number: 1:0:0
PCI Latency Timer: 0
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1C8C&SUBSYS_84ED103C&REV_A1
[PCI Express]
Version: 3.0
Maximum Link Width: 16x
Current Link Width: 8x
Maximum Link Speed: 8.0 GT/s
Current Link Speed: 2.5 GT/s
Device/Port Type: PCI Express Endpoint
Slot Implemented: No
Emergency Power Reduction: Not Supported
Active State Power Management (ASPM) Support: L0s and L1
Active State Power Management (ASPM) Status: L0s and L1 Entry
L0s Exit Latency: 256 - 512 ns
L1 Exit Latency: 2 - 4 us
Maximum Payload Size Supported: 256 bytes
Maximum Payload Size: 256 bytes
Resizable BAR Support: Not Supported
[System Resources]
Interrupt Line: N/A
Interrupt Pin: INTA#
Memory Base Address 0 63000000
Memory Base Address 1 50000000
Memory Base Address 3 60000000
I/O Base Address 5 0
[Features]
Bus Mastering: Enabled
Running At 66 MHz: Not Capable
Fast Back-to-Back Transactions: Not Capable
[Driver Information]
Driver Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Driver Description: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
Driver Provider: NVIDIA
Driver Version: 27.21.14.6627 (GeForce 466.27)
Driver Date: 23-Apr-2021
DCH/UWD Driver: Capable
DeviceInstanceId PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1C8C&SUBSYS_84ED103C&REV_A1\4&33ECA368&0&0008
Location Paths PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0100)#PCI(0000)

The PCI Express bus enumeration ends with #3 and the NVMe PCIe SSD controller is not listed.

However, a Hwinfo64 report of a comparable board can be found on the Internet.

There, an NVMe PCIe SSD controller is listed in the Bus section (see below) under PCI Express x4.

PCI Express x4 Bus #4
Samsung NVMe PCIe SSD Controller

[General Information]
Device Name: Samsung NVMe PCIe SSD Controller
Original Device Name: Samsung Electronics NVMe PCIe SSD Controller
Device Class: NVMe Controller
Revision ID: 0
PCI Address (Bus: Device: Function) Number: 4:0:0
PCI Latency Timer: 0
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_144D&DEV_A808&SUBSYS_A801144D&REV_00
[PCI Express]
Version: 3.0
Maximum Link Width: 4x
Current Link Width: 4x
Maximum Link Speed: 8.0 GT/s
Current Link Speed: 8.0 GT/s
Device/Port Type: PCI Express Endpoint
Slot Implemented: No
Emergency Power Reduction: Not Supported
Active State Power Management (ASPM) Support: L1
Active State Power Management (ASPM) Status: L1 Entry
L0s Exit Latency: >4 us
L1 Exit Latency: 32 - 64 us
Maximum Payload Size Supported: 256 bytes
Maximum Payload Size: 256 bytes
[System Resources]
Interrupt Line: N/A
Interrupt Pin: INTA#
Memory Base Address 0 AD200000
[Features]
Bus Mastering: Enabled
Running At 66 MHz: Not Capable
Fast Back-to-Back Transactions: Not Capable
[Driver Information]
Driver Manufacturer: Standard NVM Express Controller
Driver Description: Standard NVM Express Controller
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Version: 10.0.19041.488
Driver Date: 21-Jun-2006
DeviceInstanceId PCI\VEN_144D&DEV_A808&SUBSYS_A801144D&REV_00\4&CDF9F35&0&00DC
Location Paths PCIROOT(0)#PCI(1B04)#PCI(0000)

My HP Pavilion, on the other hand, does not have a PCI Express x4 slot, but it does have a PCI Express x8 slot. According to the Hwinfo64 report of my HP Pavilion notebook, the graphics card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (GP107M) sits in the PCI Express x8 slot. Specified for this graphics card is: x4.

Maximum Link Width: 16x

In the Hwinfo64 report of the board used for comparison, the graphics card is attached to the PCI Express x16 bus #1 (see below) as listed in the Bus section, i.e. in the correct place (16 lanes).

PCI Express x16 Bus #1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 [GIGABYTE]

[General Information]
Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 [GIGABYTE]
Original Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (GP106M/N17P-G1)
Device Class: VGA Compatible Adapter
Revision ID: A1
PCI Address (Busevice:Function) Number: 1:0:0
PCI Latency Timer: 0
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1C20&SUBSYS_16521458&REV_A1


Version: 3.0
Maximum Link Width: 16x
Current Link Width: 16x
Maximum Link Speed: 8.0 GT/s
Current Link Speed: 2.5 GT/s
Device/Port Type: PCI Express Endpoint
Slot Implemented: No
Emergency Power Reduction: Not Supported
Active State Power Management (ASPM) Support: L0s and L1
Active State Power Management (ASPM) Status: L0s and L1 Entry
L0s Exit Latency: 256 - 512 ns
L1 Exit Latency: 8 - 16 us
Maximum Payload Size Supported: 256 bytes
Maximum Payload Size: 256 bytes

[System Resources]
Interrupt Line: N/A
Interrupt Pin: INTA#
Memory Base Address 0 AC000000
Memory Base Address 1 80000000
Memory Base Address 3 90000000
I/O Base Address 5 0

[Features]
Bus Mastering: Enabled
Running At 66 MHz: Not Capable
Fast Back-to-Back Transactions: Not Capable

[Driver Information]
Driver Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Driver Description: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
Driver Provider: NVIDIA
Driver Version: 27.21.14.5167 (GeForce 451.67)
Driver Date: 05-Jul-2020
DCH/UWD Driver: Capable
DeviceInstanceId PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1C20&SUBSYS_16521458&REV_A1\4&DAED9F9&0&0008
Location Paths PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0100)#PCI(0000)

In the System Buses section of the SiSoft Sandra report of my Pavilion notebook (see below), there is a warning 1204 at the end. Possibly, the reference there to the higher maximum supported speed is due to the lower number of lanes (8 in the bus instead of 16).

SiSoftware Sandra Systembusse
Systembusse
Schnittstellenversion: 2.30
PCI Busse: 4
PCIe Busse: 3
Systembus
Typ: PCI
Gerätenummer: 0
Multiplikator: 1x
Systembus
Typ: PCIe 3.0 x8 2.5Gbps
Gerätenummer: 1
Multiplikator: 3x
Bridge: Intel Core6 (Skylake) PCIe Controller (x16)
Systembus
Typ: PCIe 3.0 x1 2.5Gbps
Gerätenummer: 2
Multiplikator: 3x
Bridge: Intel ICH300 (Cannon Point) PCI Express Root Port #14
Gerät mit Anschluss verbunden: HP RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Systembus
Typ: PCIe 3.0 x1 2.5Gbps
Gerätenummer: 3
Multiplikator: 3x
Bridge: Intel ICH300 (Cannon Point) PCI Express Root Port #16
Gerät mit Anschluss verbunden: HP RTS522A PCI Express Card Reader
Leistungstipps
Warning 1204: Speed is below the maximum supported speed. The device may be in power-saving mode.
Tip 3: Press Enter or double-click on a tip to find out more information.

If there is a possibility to disconnect the NVIDIA graphics card electrically, I could unscrew the notebook, do the disconnection and boot the Windows partition (In the default setting, another graphics card is active, after all). The hardware initialization should then assign the NVMe SSD to the correct port, since the NVIDIA graphics card is no longer present.

What could be the reason that the PCI Express x16 Bus is not listed by HWINFO in the BUS section of the HP notebook and why the NVIDIA Graphics card is assigned to the PCI Express x8 Bus of the HP notebook instead of the PCI Express x16 Bus?

Could you please send me a HWInfo64 report file in HTML format, so that I could compare with healthy configuration? I would send you in turn the complete configuration file of my machine to you, so that you could compare and possibly find the flaw.

Thank you very much.