HP Omen 15 (5XXX series) Gaming Notebook

But that doesn't affect the fact that in game volume control doesn't do anything :/ say i'm in a game in volume settings and i increase master volume from 100% to 5% (5% increments) its all the exact same audible volume, and when it goes to 0% its muted. I hadn't had to use the volume mixer before, and is a bit of a hassle having to tab out of programs just to adjust volume of the game

so on battery = fps fine
on charge = fps drop

That's a problem I had, except when i plugged in the charger I got warning messages saying that the smart charger couldn't supply the laptop with enough power to charge the battery and so power consumption and therefore performance would take a cut, explaining why it was fine on battery. This therefore meant that the cable was defective, and so I got it replaced; now, everything is back to normal again, full fps on charge.

As a side note I don't get as high fps off battery on Far cry 4 as I do when plugged in, i assume its throttling for whatever reason, not sure how i can cut it off

 

Interestingly enough my games are bugging out a bit while plugged in as opposes to when on battery. Strange phenomena. Anyone have any ideas as to what the issue is? It isn't bad, there is just some v-sync issues on my games. Not sure what's better: to leave that on or turn it off.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if you experienced some performance issues gaming while the battery is charging. The CPU+GPU+LCD is already at 120W not taking into account the rest of the components on the mainboard. A 150W power supply would probably have been better even if its a bit larger physically.

 

That is a good experiment, there might not be enough power to deliver to the system. Do you all have the same Samsung panel or LG? What is the number of it, I would like to find the power consumption of it. Also what kind of SSD do you use? Perhaps try an experiment... Reduce your screen brightness to the lowest and all fancy lights off, I'm not sure if it will shave 5-10watts away. Also if you can... Try disabling the cpu turbo boost. If there is no more lagging if it is being plugged in... Then the psu is bottlenecking the system.

This might be the reason why some users in earlier post said their psu isn't sufficient or won't charge properly because it's incorrect(?).

 

First the flickering (whether the BIOS update will fix it is...iffy) and now the underpowered AC adapter (yes, they want to keep it light, fair enough; but puhleese how much more would it weigh to have it right!)...one thing after another.

 

Well I don't know anymore.
I'm now experiencing the very same random lags on battery as I was experiencing when it is plugged in.
But there seems to be a pattern now - when playing the tutorial of Planetside 2 I can now predict where it's going to lag.
Funny thing is just that if I stand still in Planetside 2 I'll experience the random framerate drops a few times and then it will steady out at 32fps. When I move again it starts lagging.

 

Probably due to CPU throttling:

try this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide.html

 

re "This therefore meant that the cable was defective, and so I got it replaced; now, everything is back to normal again, full fps on charge"

The "cable" was defective? The "charger" itself was ok then? Can you clarify.
If the charger is underpowered, which it certainly seems to be, then how would just changing the cable fix it?
How did you "replace" it (either the cable or the charger or both)? Did the HP Co. send you a new one? Did you buy a generic charger and/or cable from a store?

 

Any chance you could download HWinfo64, GPU-Z, or similar to monitor the Nvidia card and Intel CPU while you are gaming? This would give us a better idea of what could be going on. I tried DOTA2 on my M3800, which ran fine, even with the lesser Quadro GPU. I don't think this is an Optimus issue.

 

First off, thank you everybody for assisting me with this issue.

It's a frame rate drop. The game would normally run around 28-32 FPS and suddenly the FPS goes all the way down to 5-6 FPS for a few seconds whereafter it rises again.

I have HWInfo64 installed - I'll try to see if i can figure out how to use it.

EDIT:
OK I monitored HWINFO and the results aren't too convincing.

First off, the GPU is mostly only running at 405 Mhz and not the full 1019 MHz it's capable of. Sure it sometimes bumps up to 645-700ish but it's never that high always. And I honestly doubt there's any throttling since I just turned this computer on.

When the lag occurs, the GPU is running at a mere 33.8 MHz. IS there any way I can lock the GPU speed to 1019 MHz? I'm really desperate for a solution :/

EDIT 2:
I did some further testing:
When the Nvidia GPU downclocks to 33 Mhz the CPU clock speed won't go above 1.2Ghz.

HOWEVER: Playing with the internal graphics (Intel HD4600) results in a smooth gaming experience with no lags/FPS drops albeit a lower overall framerate. The CPU cores remain clocked at max and the same goes for the GPU as well.

Any suggestions please?
I'm already extremely thankful for what you've done

 

Well, it still sounds like something is throttling somewhere. Have any of you checked power plans/settings in Control Panel to see what the default setting is? I'd set it on "High Performance" if that is still an option in Windows 8.1. All this power-saving and automatic switching in the newer machines is almost too much. Who cares to save power when plugged in? Hated when they changed from manual switching to the Optimus stuff which is supposed to figure it out automatically and doesn't always. I set all my machines on "High Performance" and let it go. I'll let the machine know when I want to save power.

 

Well either something is throttling - or something is starving (not getting enough power). But for all you experienced people, is it true that the computer simply would 'throttle' gpu and cpu if it's not getting enough power?

 

High Performance is certainly an option that's available on Windows 8.1. Does that necessarily disable any automatic switching or automatic stuff? I'm going to have to try setting it on high performance while I play games, something I've yet to do.

Also, is there anyway you can disable automatic graphics card switching or toying around with Optimus? I've briefly seen things about Optimus giving people a hard time with graphics settings and it not giving the best graphics performance it can deliver. Is that the case?

 

You cannot disable Optimus. Graphics are wired trough the intel card. Unless the laptop has a 120Hz screen.

 

There might be some truth to the throttling thing.
The GPU cannot run at max or even near max frequency for long since the GPU temp rises VERY fast and in return it throttles aggressively.
To ensure that you're getting the most out of the PC, make sure that you're setting the power management in NVIDIA Control Panel to steady performance.
I wish I could control how it throttles because after reaching spikes of 90-92 degrees celsius it drops down to 80 or below before ramping up again.

 

Some info from Nvidia's desktop GPU's, based on my experience administering a compute cluster:

GTX 480's don't throttle, and run just as stably around 100C as they do around 80C (which is not very).

Titans aggressively ramp up their fans to keep themselves at 80C. I believe they throttle if their fans are maxed out and they can't hold themselves to that temperature.

My Omen arrives today; not going to be happy if it can't feed enough power to the CPU and GPU, and can't remove the heat...

 

Okay seems like I got the cause sorted, now I just need the solution.

At 92 degrees C the GPU throttles down to 33 MHz. It was heat afterall.

 

Did you watch the MobileTechReview YouTube video? She put a nail clipper under the back and said the minor elevation change helped with heat.

Otherwise, I wonder if a laptop cooler would help you... (Not that this is a real solution, they really talked up how good their cooling was supposed to be. Of course you could just have a bad apple.)

Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...&qid=1419431759&sr=8-1&keywords=laptop+cooler

 

I think my dad has one somewhere.
Yeah I initially thought the cooling was outstanding but on the other hand, the OMEN doesn't have much space for the air intake when it's placed flat on the table.
It never gets hot to the touch and if a cooling pad is all that's required it's no biggie.

I repped some of you guys who helped me, if you want more just tell me =)

PS - the cpu never gets above 65 degrees even when it's running at ~ 3.3 - 3.5ghz for extended periods of time.

 

It might have been a bad apple - I don't see how 5 minutes of gaming at nowhere near max GPU frequency can result in the temperatures reaching 92 degrees.

 

Those temps seem pretty high even with how slim the chassis is. Maybe you have a bad thermal paste job, or a dead fan on the GPU side?

 

Both fans are running properly.

 

Maybe bad thermal paste then? Does the air coming out the exhaust vents feel warm while you are gaming? The fans also may be running faster than they usually do, to compensate. However you won't be able to tell unless you have used another Omen and have it as a reference point.

 

They felt a bit warm today - usually they don't.
I wish I knew anybody with an omen but they're really rare here in Denmark due to their price.
The Omen is unfortunately not the easiest laptop to disassemble =/

 

I don't think its particularly hard to disassemble, but it frustrates me that you have to remove an adhesive rubber strip to do it. My guess is the adhesive would probably be good for a couple of reapplications, but I would worry that it might not sit flat after reapplication if the rubber gets distorted in any way from removal. Then there is the issue that they may void your warranty if you try to reapply paste at all.

It sounds like HP warranty in Denmark is only pick up and return... so you might want to consider either getting an exchange from the retailer you bought it from, or send it in for repair if that is not possible.

 

Actually I got it as a gift and I have no certification of purchase. So it's either a repair or just live with it like that. Considering the fact that I'm starting med school in February and I won't be gaming much by then, I won't bother with it - it's a great and speedy device - it's just a shame that I can't use it properly for gaming.

 

I have a spare TPU cellphone case I use to put in the back of my Omen and it helps tremendously.

Actually, I've noticed after some intense gaming, the air coming out of the vents are still rather cool. I wonder if the heat is being dissipated toward the fans at all. After shutting down the Omen, the space between the fans, where the heatsink, CPU and GPU are located, are rather warm. I've made it a small ritual to run the fans at maximum for about 5 minutes or so after gaming and before I shut down and notice how much cooler that area becomes as opposed to not.

Congrats on med school. And yes, the Omen is a speedy device and it looks great. I love mine so far.

 

Thanks a lot
Do you experience frame rate drops? How high does your GPU temp go when gaming ?

 

I actually do, unfortunately. Although it isn't too bad. I'll have to check temps again. I've been using Speccy. What's the best application you would recommend for temps? Or is Speccy adequate?

 

Ah, I understand. From what I can tell from the support docs the repair depot in Denmark is 7-10 working days response time, if you decide to send it in. You might try sending iMaxx a PM and see if he has any contacts in HP Denmark to get your problem resolved.

 

Ouch I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping it was unique to me.
I use either throttlestop or nvidiainspector.
And yeah, Speccy is adequate =)

While you're at it, can you measure GPU frequencies as well? Which frequency does it run at most of the time?

 

If the fans / heatsink / paste are doing their job then the air should be warm when the CPU or GPU are under load. The CPU / GPU temperature should also drop very quickly once the load is removed. If it takes more than a few seconds with the fans at full blast, then there are likely gaps between the CPU / GPU and heatsink.

 

I just got mine.

My first observation was that the audio was earbreakingly awful: there were artifacts and an overwhelming excess of high treble (12 kHz+) which quite literally made my ears hurt. This was the fault of the Beats Audio software, which is unbearably awful. I found a registry patch that fixes this: see beats audio bugs: can't disable, bass/treble messed up every... - HP Support Forum - 2808815 . After installing the registry patch the sound was back to a reasonable character; there is a lack of low frequency response from the built-in speakers, which are quite tinny. The speakers on my old Asus 14" laptop (G46VW) sounded much, much better: more clarity, and a far better low frequency response.

The keyboard is nice to type on, but the layout is a bit stupid: get rid of the silly macro keys, and put in full-sized Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down buttons. The touchpad is nice enough, but I'd prefer (again, as on the Asus) real buttons beneath it. The build quality is solid.

The screen is beautiful, but I think my touchscreen is broken: if not disabled it goes berserk, registering phantom touches along the midline of the screen and doing random things.

The keyboard is nice enough but the layout is dumb, and the speakers are subpar. The fans are louder than on my old Asus (which was whisper-quiet even under load and didn't heat up much at all). Windows 8 is an unmitigated cluster without lubrication, but we already knew that. I don't know if the berserk touchscreen is a win8 bug or a hardware defect in the digitizer, but if I can't get it fixed and have to return the laptop I'll probably reorder something else.

It's a shame, too, since the Omen is a very nice machine. The screen is beautiful and the build quality is quite solid. What it needs is:

--Get rid of the P1-P6 buttons. They are useless. Gamers who want macro keys can use their own software to program them. Use the extra room to include page up/page down/home/end keys that don't require a keystroke.
--Let Asus teach you something about compact speakers that sound good.
--Get the rid of Beats Audio. It is literally the worst thing to happen to sound since Johann Pachelbel scraped his fingers on a chalkboard.
--Move the power port to the edge, so it doesn't rest in front of the exhaust stream of the fans and interfere with the cooling.

 

Just browsing the net, listening to music, and running on battery, it looks like 37 degrees at 405 MHz. I've yet to try it while gaming. I'll try doing that now while on battery.

 

Ah yes. Thanks for that information. The temperatures do drop quickly but I'll have to check that again.

 

Update- After some gaming on battery, my temps were running at about 48-49. I have apps plus my game running on window mode, switched on fans to maximum and the temps dropped 10 degrees in about a minute or less. It is now sitting at 34-35 degrees. Very impressive as just browsing the net and listening to music, no resource intensive tasks, the temps were at 36-37. GPU 2D desktop frequency looks to be at 405 MHz, 3D applications are at 540 MHz with a memory clock of 2505 MHz.

 

Thanks for this!
I think it's safe to say that there's something wrong with mine!
10-20 seconds of using the dGPU results in a temperature of upwards 92 degrees celsius whereafter the gpu starts throttling. The air that the fan blows out isn't even moderately warm. My unit definitely has a flaw with regards to the GPU. As previously mentioned the CPU can run at 3.3-3.5 Ghz for extended periods of time and never really passing the 65 degrees mark.

Any suggestion what I can do about this?

 

If air's coming out the back, but it's cool and the GPU is running too hot, then the problem is in the thermal connection between the chip and the heatpipe. You could take it apart to see if there's something blatantly wrong, but other than that it's a thing someone's going to have to fix mechanically -- HP will have to replace some thermal paste, etc.

 

Did someone in here want me to look at some numbers for Dragon Age Inquisition? I ended up purchasing it today. All I can say is that it is a buggy game haha I jumped in the middle of an NPC crowd and now I'm stuck! XD

Anyway, not my usual type of game that I play (not really a major PC gamer, really) but I'm enjoying it so far minus being stuck due to some weird bug. Aside from that, I can however say that for optimal graphics, most of the settings are on "low" and "off" as per GeForce Experience optimal settings will have it.

 

Hey!
Just got my Omen yesterday (norwegian model), and it seems like I have the exact same problem.
While playing Battlefield 4 the gpu shoots right up to about 90 degrees. Its substantially pretty stable between 50-60 fps, but after a minute or two of gaming it drops down to 2-3 fps for a few seconds and then rises to normal again.
The heat blowing out of the back isn't very hot either, but de GPU is definatily way too hot.
This only happens when the computer is plugged in. When on battery power only, there is no drops in fps what so ever.

Happily I didn't pay a dime for the computer as it was a prize in a christmas-contest of sorts....
But I guess I have to contact the supplier to get it fixed.
A gaming laptop that cant game....oh the irony

 

Hey all, has anyone upgraded the ssd? I can't imagine having a lap top with less than a tb and was wondering if it was possible to replace with a tb ssd? I know some of these slim notebooks are nearly impossible to upgrade some of the components. I see that the cpu is not upgradeable but haven't seen any word on the ssd.

 

HP Omen 15t Disassembly and RAM, SSD Upgrade Guide | LaptopUltra.com

I think it should be fairly easy to replace the ssd

 

Thanks so much!!

 

Hey!
Mine is also a no-version (I doubt that means Norwegian but still).
Initially I only had this issue when my computer was plugged in, but it is now also present on battery. I'll try contacting HP on Monday to see if I can get the issue resolved.

 

Hehe probably not, but hopefully the problem lies with this specific model.
Keep me updated about your result with HP!

 

Hey, has anyone tried running the Unigine benchmarks for a period of time? I ran mine for about half an hour nonstop and I noticed the gpu's temperature kept increasing. When I stopped it, it ended up at 86 degrees Celsius. Is it normal for it to keep rising as it runs the benchmark?

 

Just to be sure - yours is also the 16GB /256 GB /4GB VRAM configuration, right ? The energy star model.

 

You ran it for half an hour and it only reached 86? That's pretty impressive. I ran mine for 10 seconds and it reached 92

 

Ugh. I'm having the screen-shimmer problem that people reported. Has anyone had any luck fixing it with the BIOS updates?